China · Sichuan
Kung Pao Chicken
Diced chicken with peanuts and dried chili in a sweet, sour and numbling sauce, threaded with scallion and celery.
The dish is named for a Qing dynasty governor of Sichuan whose official kitchen is credited with it, and its flavor profile is called the lychee taste, after the sweet, sour and numbing notes that arrive in that order. The real technique is staging: chicken goes in first, peanuts and dry chili at the very end, and that is what keeps the nuts crunchy under the glaze.
Ingredients
- drumstick chicken1 pieces
- scallion1 pieces
- roasted peanuts150 g
- sliced ginger10 g
- dried chili10 g
- light soy sauce10 g
- sugar2 g
- salt2 g
- vegetable oil20 g
- cornstarch15 g
- cooking wine15 g
- dark soy sauce5 g
- Sichuan peppercorn5 g
- black vinegar5 g
- chicken bouillon2 g
- sesame oil10 g
- fermented chili bean paste10 g
- celtuce250 g
- chili oil5 g
Directions
- 1
Debone the drumstick with scissors, pound the flesh side once all over with the back of the knife, cut it into strips and then into one and a half centimeter dice; soak in cold water for ten minutes, drain and set aside. If you are using breast meat, you can dice it directly and carry on.
- 2
Put five grams of the scallion green and the sliced ginger in a bowl, pour over fifty grams of boiling water and set aside. Cut the scallion white into one and a half centimeter rounds. Toast the peanuts in the microwave on high for five minutes and set aside.
- 3
To the diced chicken add two grams of salt, five grams of dark soy sauce, fifteen grams of cooking wine and fifteen grams of cornstarch and mix until it looks slightly dry. Slowly add some of the ginger scallion water, stirring until the chicken feels tacky. Seal with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.
- 4
Cut the dried chili into lengths. Heat the wok over high heat, then lower it and dry-fry the chili until it is just beginning to darken, and lift out. Dry-fry the Sichuan peppercorn until fragrant and lift out.
- 5
Raise the heat, add twenty grams of vegetable oil, and at seventy percent hot, when bubbles form on a bamboo chopstick, add the chicken. Fry until the top begins to turn pale, flip with a spatula and stir-fry for thirty seconds.
- 6
Add the scallion rounds and stir-fry, then pour in the remaining ginger scallion water, topping it up with hot water to make a hundred grams if needed. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for two minutes.
- 7
Raise the heat and add the peanuts, dried chili and Sichuan peppercorn, along with two grams of chicken bouillon, five grams of black vinegar and two grams of sugar; stir to combine.
- 8
Mix ten grams of cornstarch with fifty grams of water into a slurry, add it to the wok, stir well and reduce until the sauce is the thickness you want.
- 9
Turn off the heat, drizzle in ten grams of sesame oil and serve.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.