kung pao chicken
Stir-fried chicken with the ideal balance of sweet, spicy, and salty flavours is called Kung Pao Chicken, and it’s really addicting! Make it at home, and it will surpass Chinese takeaway! This Kung Pao chicken recipe is too good to resist, with bits of crispy-tender chicken mixed in with some crunchy vegetables!
Ingredients:
Chicken:
- 1 inch cubes cut from 28 ounces (800g) of boneless, skinless chicken breast
- One tablespoon of dry sherry or shaoxing wine
- One tablespoon of light soy sauce
- two tsp of baking soda
- One tsp maize flour or cornflour
Sauce:
- Half a cup of low-sodium chicken broth or stock — One can utilise water.
- Five tsp light soy sauce
- Two teaspoons of Chinese black vinegar (or fine balsamic vinegar in its place)
- 2 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar*
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch / corn flour
Stir Fry:
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic (4-6 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1/2 red bell pepper (capsicum) seeded and diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper (capsicum) seeded and diced
- 8-10 dried chilies cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns, lightly toasted and ground**
- 4 green onion / scallion stems cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup roasted/unsalted peanuts
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil optional
INSTRUCTIONS
-
Combine all ingredients for the chicken in a shallow bowl; cover and marinate for 10 minutes (if time allows).
-
Whisk sauce ingredients together until sugar dissolves; set aside.
-
Heat a large skillet, pan or wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, allow to heat up, then add marinated chicken. Fry chicken for 3-4 minutes while occasionally stirring, until edges are browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
-
Add remaining cooking oil into the same pan/wok. Stir in garlic, ginger, chili diced peppers (capsicums) and Sichuan peppercorns and stir fry for 1 minute.
-
Give the prepared sauce a mix, then pour it into the pan and bring it to a boil while stirring.
-
Once it begins to thicken slightly, add chicken back into the pan/wok and mix all of the ingredients through the sauce until the chicken is evenly coated and sauce has thickened, (about 2 minutes).
-
Stir in green onions, peanuts and sesame oil. Toss well and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes to infuse all of the flavours together.
-
Serve immediately with steamed/cooked rice or fried rice!
NOTES
*Our kung pao sauce is not sweet for most of our readers and balances out the heat or spice-level. However, start with 1 teaspoon if you are hesitant or omit the sugar completely.
**If you are sensitive to spice or you’d like a mild sauce, start with 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns. Adjust accordingly to make it suitable to your taste.
NUTRITION
Calories: 382kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 667mg | Potassium: 531mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 925IU | Vitamin C: 29.3mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1.7mg