Super, easy, and full of flavor kung pao shrimp, only needs 10 minutes of preparation to table. This Kung Pao Shrimp is developed from authentic Sichuan-style Kung Pao Chicken with a slightly spicy and sweet taste.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Magic Kung Pao Flavor

If you ever eat the most famous Chinese Sichuan dish—Kung Pao Chicken, I guess you love the taste of the sauce used in the recipe. Kung pao sauce is first used in the famous Kung Pao Chicken and then further developed into a type of flavor in China that can be used in many other recipes.  It goes well with different types of protein, chicken, shrimp, and fish. It goes even better with vegetables and mushrooms like lotus root, cauliflower, and king oyster mushrooms.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Kung pao- one of the key flavors from Sichuan cuisine

The development process of the special kung pao taste is quite similar to Chinese garlic sauce or Yu Xiang sauce (鱼香汁). When we get a closer look at those two types of sauces, then we might find there are some similarities between the ingredients used in Kung Pao sauce and Chinese garlic sauce. The basic garlic, scallion, and ginger are the same. Both vinegar and sugar are used. Chinese sauces are always quite confusing since only small differences, either ingredients themselves or the amounts can cause big differences in final flavors. There aIn Kung Pao dishes, dried peppers are used to create a strong spicy taste while pickled red peppers or fermented peppers are used in Chinese garlic sauces. There is a strong sweet and sour taste with a mild spicy flavor in Chinese garlic sauce. While Kung Pao sauce has a strong spicy taste with a mild sweet and sour taste.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Tips for Kung Pao 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 or shrimp, a small amount of cornstarch is enough since starch is previously used in the marinating process. In other veggie kung pao dishes, more cornstarch is needed to make the sauce thicker and consequently can attach to the main ingredients.

How to make shrimp tender

The key step of this dish is to be quick and accurate.  Fry the shrimp only for a short time over the high fire and be quick after adding the stir-frying sauce as it thickens very quickly to avoid overcooking the shrimp.

Instructions

Preparation

Marinate the shrimp with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, and cornstarch. Mix all the ingredients for kung pao sauce in a small bowl.

Cut all the ingredients and break the chili pepper into halves. If you want to reduce the hotness, use whole dried chili peppers.

Stir fry

Heat oil in a pan and fry ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn, and dried chili pepper until aromatic.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Then place the shrimp in. Fry for 10 seconds over high fire.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Stir the kung pao sauce first and then pour it. Let the sauce heat for around 10 seconds.

Add large scallions and toasted peanuts. Give everything a big stir fry and then serve immediately.

kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com
kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Other Kung Pao Dishes to try

  1. Authentic Kung Pao Chicken
  2. Kung pao tofu
  3. Kung pao cauliflower
  4. Kung pao Mushroom
kung pao shrimp|chinasichuanfood.com

Kung Pao Shrimp (Kung Pao Prawn)

Kung Pao Shrimp developed from traditional Chinese kung Pao Chicken has a spicy yet slightly sweet taste.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: Kung Pao, shrimp
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 543kcal
Author: Elaine

Ingredients

  • 300 g unshelled shrimp
  • 3 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
  • 7-15 dried chili pepper
  • 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
  • 3 garlic cloves , chopped
  • 1 thumb root ginger, chopped
  • 2 Chinese large scallion , white part only or use the white part of scallions
  • 1/4 cup roasted peanuts or cashew

Stir-fry sauce

Shrimp Marinating

  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cornstarch

Instructions

Marinating the shrimp

  • Marinate the shrimp with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, salt and cornstarch.  Set aside.

Prepare the sauce

  • Mix all the ingredients for kung pao sauce in a small bowl.

Stir frying

  • Cut all the ingredients and break only 2-3 whole chili pepper into halves. If you want to reduce the hotness, use whole dried chili peppers only.
  • Heat oil in a pan and fry ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili pepper until aromatic. Then place the shrimp in. Fry for 20 seconds over high fire.
  • Place peppers and scallion. Continue frying until the peppers are slightly soft (around 20 seconds). Pour in Kung Pao sauce and place in the nuts. Mix well and transfer out immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 543kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 378mg | Sodium: 3061mg | Potassium: 404mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1425IU | Vitamin C: 47.4mg | Calcium: 254mg | Iron: 4.4mg

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22 Comments

  1. Just made this tonight with my friend! The sauce was just the right amount and had a nice depth of flavor. I added two green peppers for some extra veggie. Thanks for sharing this.

  2. Excellent. I used honey in place of sugar, otherwise as written. It was outstanding. I served it over spaghetti squash in place of rice and it worked really well.

  3. This looks amazing! I have a quick question: I use Tamari because it is gluten free. How would you substitute the dark and light soy sauce with tamari? Thank you!

  4. I’ve been reading websites that offer advice to food bloggers. Their first suggestion is not to have obnoxious ads. Your site violates this advice. I’ve stopped using other sites because of this issue. I like you. I hope you will address the issue before you lose a lot of customers.

    1. Wanda,
      Thanks so much for giving me your suggestion about the ads. I understand that they are quite annoying. But the site is not a hobby now. We have put lots of time and energy in the site and I still need to pay necessary expenses. I hope I can figure out a way to find a balance. But a site with zero ads is hard to maintain.

  5. Hi Elaine, can this recipe be used for kung pao chicken as well, adjusting the cooking time for chicken? I’ve never found a good kung pao chicken recipe. Thank you in advance!

  6. 5 stars
    Oh, I love this dish! I used to order it all the time when I lived in Changsha. Ma la do fu was my other great favorite. Hunan style is the very best! Thank you for posting this!

  7. Hi there,

    It’s not clear or listed with the ingredients how much sugar or honey should be used for this dish, am I missing something?