Kung Pao Chicken or Gong Bao Chicken (宫保鸡丁, Gōngbǎo jīdīng) is a typical dish from Sichuan, China, made with chicken, chilies, and raw peanuts.
It involves chicken cut into pieces, marinated, and flavored with Shaoxing wine, Sichuan pepper, Facing Heaven chilies, and scallions.
While some western versions of Kung Pao Chicken also include additional elements like bell pepper, orange, and tofu.
And it can be accompanied by a sauce of soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, and green scallion or simply by soy sauce.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
- 14 oz chicken breast
- 8 dried red chilies (Heaven Facing or similar)
- 1 scallion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsps sesame oil
- 5.3 oz peanuts (raw)
- 2 tbsps rice wine (shaoxing)
- to taste Sichuan pepper
- 2 tbsps mirin
Steps
Clean the Heaven Facing chilies (or similar) by removing the seeds, then soak in water for 30 minutes.
Chop the green part of the scallion and the garlic, marinate with mirin and Shaoxing rice wine for 1 hour.
In a wok, sauté the garlic and scallion mixture in sesame oil, then add the diced chicken breast.
Add the raw peanuts and Sichuan pepper.
Stir-fry for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked.
Serve with a sauce made of soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili, rice wine, and the green part of the scallion.
Shaoxing rice wine is produced in Shaoxing, a city located in Zhejiang, a province on the eastern coast of China, where it has been made since the 5th century.
The brand Pagoda is one of the most used by top chefs, if you can’t find it you can also purchase another brand online.
