Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡丁) in Chinese is a stir-fried dish with chicken cubes, dried chili pepper, and crispy peanuts. The tender taste of the chicken matches great with the crispy peanuts with a combined sweet, sour, and spicy taste. This dish is a popular Sichuan food and has become one of the signature dishes in Chinese cuisine along with the popular map tofu, dan dan noodles, etc.

What's kung Pao chicken

Kung Pao Chicken originates from the Sichuan Province in China, with bold flavors that are distinctively spicy, pungent, and numbing. There are several versions, the real and authentic Sichuan version, or popular Chinese northern version in which cucumber or other vegetables are added, and the westernized version where fresh peppers are added.

Why it is named Kung Pao

The name Kung Pao comes from a court official Ding Baozhen in the Qing dynasty. The hero official Ding is a foodie who especially loves stir-fried diced chicken. During the time of being served as governor of Sichuan province, he frequently treats his guest to this dish and add dried chili peppers because People in Sichuan loves to eat hot chili. Later on, he is granted the title Taizi Shaobao also known as Kung Pao, which means the protector of the crown prince. People name this dish after him to memory him. In China, chefs usually use chicken thighs to make this dish rather than boneless chicken breasts.

The Kung Pao Sauce

It is critical to make the kung pao sauce before cooking kung pao dishes. Usually, the kung pao sauce is a combination of vinegar, sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper starch, and water. Different chefs may have their own recipes for making the kung pao sauce. All the condiments are scooped into a bowl and mixed together before start working with stir-frying.

What does kung pao taste like?

For making kung pao dishes, dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns are added to the wok and stir-fried in the cooking oil. Therefore, when you taste kung pao dishes, you will feel a little spicy on your tongue at first. Then it will come with an acceptable sour and sweet flavor. The spicy flavor will not last long and will be substituted by a sweet and sour flavor, which is called the lichee (荔枝) flavor in Sichuan cuisine. If you want more about unique Sichuan flavors, check this post : Sichuan Food. The taste of kung pao dishes is perfectly combined and well-balanced, which makes kung pao dishes addictive and appetizing.

Ingredients breakdown

Here are some of the important ingredients which are essential to this authentic version of the kung pao dish:

Chicken thighs or breast cubes - both chicken thighs and breast can be used for this recipe. But boneless chicken thigh is much more tender. So I recommend trying with chicken thigh. But the chicken breast is completely fine.

Sichuan peppercorns - this is the special ingredient in kung pao dishes, which yields both numbing sensation and spicy flavors to kung pao chicken.

Dried chili peppers - the red color and spicy taste of dried chili pepper are essential elements of kung pao dishes.

Crispy Peanuts - crispy peanuts give a crunchy texture to the kung pao chicken dish. The peanuts can be deep-fried or fried with salt. Or you can simply use store-bought crispy peanuts.

Garlic and ginger - garlic and ginger give kung pao dishes a strong and rich aroma.

Vinegar - I use black vinegar. You can mix with two types of vinegar or replace this with other vinegar on hand.

Light soy sauce- adding the unami flavor and a basic savory taste.

Dark soy sauce- darken the color of the kung pao dishes.

Chinese large green onion (大葱) or large scallion is a thick, large scallion- It has a much larger white portion at the base. You may find they look similar to leeks but it is much more tender and juicy. You can use a scallion to replace it but remember only use the white part.

Sugar- for the sweet flavor

Salt and white pepper- as needed

cornstarch- to thicken the sauce so it can wrap on the ingredients

How to debone the chicken thigh

1. Start by cutting a slit in the middle of the chicken thigh.

2. Insert your knife into the slit and use the tip of the knife to lift up the bone.

3 Angle your knife towards the bone and slice down both sides of it to expose the bone even further.

Pick the bones out. If it is attached, then remove the knife to separate it.

What's "velveting chicken", tenderizing chicken

Velveting meat for stir-frying recipes is a very traditional Chinese cooking method. It means tenderizing meat for the coming stir-frying recipes. In this recipe, in order to keep the chicken tender after cooking, we will use velveting method to give it a very basic flavor and protecting from drying out.

Firstly, add salt, Shaoxing wine, starch, and white peppercorn. Mix well to make sure the starch is well coated on the thick cubes.

Then add around 2 teaspoons of vegetable cooking oil to avoid the cubes sticking together when frying.

How to make crispy peanuts

There are lots of ways of making crispy peanuts and here I love to introduce a lovely salt-baked version. This method will give the peanuts a super lovely taste of aroma (quite similar to five spice taste but we don't use five-spice powder here). I recommend frying a larger batch each time. You can save and use it as toppings or snacks.

• Firstly, add around 600g salt to the wok, and fry until hot. Place around 2 cups of peanuts in.
• Keep stir-frying the peanuts so make sure they are evenly heated. Continue heating for 6-8 minutes until you can hear Pa pa sound from the peanuts.
• Strain and shift the salt out and then you will get super lovely peanuts. For this method, we have to remove the skin because salt is attached.

You can use store-bought crispy peanuts to speed up the process for sure. Or you can also use a shallow frying method. But this version is much better.

How much starch to add to the sauce

About the sauce, the amount of cornstarch used in the mixed stir fry sauce (碗芡) can be slightly different based on the very single dish. For example, in this kung pao chicken, only a small amount is enough since the chicken cubes are coated with starch in the marinating process. In other veggie kung pao dishes like kung pao cauliflower, more cornstarch is needed to make the sauce thicker and consequently can attach to the main ingredients.

How to serve

Kung Pao Chicken is a classic Sichuan dish that pairs perfectly with steamed white rice or noodles. It can also be served with other dishes to make a complete meal. A stir-fried vegetable dish, such as kung pao broccoli, is a great way to add a bit of color and texture to kung pao chicken. You can also serve it with some light and healthy Chinese soups including egg drop soup, bok choy soup, or winter melon soup.

Is kung pao chicken healthy?

Well since it requires raw and natural ingredients, I believe it is generally a healthy dish. But it contains lots of soy sauce and sugar, so try to moderate the amount of both when cooking kung pao chicken. Also, you can consider adding some other vegetables to make a more balanced dish.

Kung pao VS General Tso

Kung Pao and General Tso may sound similar, but they are far from it in terms of the flavor profile. Kung Pao is a Sichuan Chinese dish that packs a punch with its bold flavors. It is made with chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, and Chinese large scallions among other seasonings for an overall sour and spicy dish. General Tso is a sweeter Hunan Chinese dish made with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and syrups for a sweet umami-packed savory sensation.

Instructions

If you use chicken thigh: remove the bones by cutting a break on the top and then push the meat off with the help of a sharp knife.  Cut the meat into long strips and further into one-bite cubes.

Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and marinate with salt, white pepper, cooking wine, and cornstarch.  This helps to add a basic taste and create a protecting shell for the chicken so we can produce the tenderest chicken.

Then cut the scallion into 1cm sections, and chop ginger and garlic.

Heat up oil in a wok until hot, pour in cold oil, and then heat until warm. Place the chicken cubes in and let them stay for 3-5 seconds until the starch begins gelatinization. Gently fry until all of the chicken cubes begin to change color.

Transfer the chicken cubes out. Add another 1 tablespoon of oil and fry Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili pepper, until aromatic. Place in garlic, ginger, and half of the scallion sections. Mix for 10 seconds until aromatic.

Return the chicken and mix well. Stir the sauce first and pour it in.

Fry until the sauce is well-coated. Mix with the remaining large scallion sections and fried peanuts. Transfer out immediately.