Chicken Braised with Ginger and Star Anise

First, we couldn't find star anise at our store so we supstituted 5-Spice. Start by sauteing 1t of szechaun pepper corns in 2T peanut oil. When the pepper is fragrant remove it from the pan and crush them. Julienne a 2" long piece of fresh ginger and add it to the pan along with 2 cloves of minced garlic. Saute until golden brown and then add the meat of 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs that have been cut into bite sized pieces and seasoned with the pepper. Toss until the chicken is browned. Add 1/3C rice wine, 1/2C light soy sauce and 1T honey. This is the point where you add the star anise, if you have one; we substituted 1T 5-spice. Simmer about 20 min. until the chicken is done. We served the dish with rice and steamed broccoli. Very tastey and it went well with a dry white wine.