Kung Pao Chicken - Better Than TakeOut

This classic dish is made of stir-fried chicken cubes, peanuts, and vegetables. Laced with a flavorful explosion of brownish sauce that is a bit of salty with a touch of sweetness, vinegary with a gentle numbing sensation from Sichuan peppercorns.

Kung Pao Chicken - Few people would be surprised to learn that a large proportion of Chinese food restaurants in America have adopted the dishes to please local palates.

If you traveled to China, you would discover the recipes vary from one region to the next, but here in the states, they could vary within a restaurant based on the cook.

Jump to:

• What's in the sauce?
• Substitute for Shaoxing wine
• How to grind the Sichuan peppercorns (szechuan pepper)
• Peanuts or Cashews?
• Ingredients
• Step by step instructions
• Notes
• Other recipes:
• Full Recipe

Now should you try the fast food type teriyaki restaurant generally run by Korean individuals, the dishes will reflect their version of Chinese and Japanese dishes.

In our small corner of California, this was true of the neighborhood teriyaki restaurant run by an elder Korean lady.

Case in point was their version of Kung Pao Chicken (in Chinese: 宫保鸡丁 ), it had a noticeably sweet garlic flavor and leaned heavily toward the heat. Personally, I loved how the heat challenged you to grab another bite. I often ordered their version because it was so tasty.

Unfortunately, this dish varies greatly, dependent upon where you order it. You can usually count on roasted peanuts and mouth murdering Sichuan peppers. Dried chili peppers coupled with the Sichuan created a taste that for me is practically irresistible.

What's in the sauce?

Kung Pao sauce is famous for its layers of flavors from the numbing spices and the balance of vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar. In this recipe, there are 5 main ingredients to get that distinctive taste of sauce similar to restaurants.

• Light Soy sauce - using regular soy sauce yields a briny taste hence the use of a light or low sodium is essential.
• Chicken Broth - use a low sodium chicken stock or simply use water if stock isn't available.
• Black vinegar - this vinegar is made from fermented black sticky rice or regular glutinous rice. You can find this at the local Asian market. A good substitute is balsamic vinegar, malt vinegar, rice vinegar or sherry.
• Dark soy sauce - this is mostly used to enhance flavor or for dipping. However, this sauce has a thicker consistency, more dark and a bit less salty than the regular soy sauce. It normally adds that classic dark caramel color to every dish.
• Shaoxing wine - also known as Chinese cooking wine and is commonly used for daily cooking. It helps to eliminate any unpleasant smell of raw meat or fish that adds rich aromatic flavor to some dishes.

The good news is creating savory Kung Pao Chicken isn’t really too hard if you have the proper ingredients at your disposal. I decided today would be the time to post my favorite version of a recipe I thoroughly enjoy.

To be honest, I hardly ever order it out anymore, partly because it is difficult to pay 4 times what I know it costs to make the dish and of course, I like my version the best.

Do you enjoy Kung Pao Chicken? If you are ready to try your hand, this is a good recipe to start with. Hey, you could even adapt it to your own tastes. After a few tries, you will probably never order it to go again.

Substitute for Shaoxing wine

• Dry sherry - this is made of fortified wine that even a small amount helps increase the flavor and depth of a recipe. This could last longer than an opened bottle of regular red or white wine.
• Mirin - Mirin is a rice wine or a sweetened sake usually used in Japanese cooking. It has a light syrupy texture and gives a mild sweetness to dishes and sauces. Both substitutes can be found at your local Asian market.

How to grind the Sichuan peppercorns (szechuan pepper)

You cannot call a Kung Pao Chicken recipe sans the Szechuan peppercorns. Unlike black/white peppers, their characteristics are not hot or pungent but rather yield a tingly, numbing sensation.

To mute the citrusy flavors and increase the aroma of (Huā Jiāo, 花椒, aka Szechuan pepper or Chinese pepper), you should dry roast them without oil before grinding.

1 Before roasting, sift through the peppercorns and get rid of the black seeds you can find. The black seeds (found loose in the package or still inside the husks) are hard and tasteless thus need to be removed.

2 Place the peppercorns into a dry pan and roast them over low heat. Continuously shake the pan to avoid overheating which could result in a bitter taste. Signs they're ready:

• They start to release the aroma.
• They look a little oily on the surface.

3 Let the peppercorns cool down to become brittle and easier to grind. After the cooling process, you can use a pestle and mortar to grind them. Or use a coffee grinder if available.

4 Do not skip this process. Once everything is grounded, sift them through using a fine-mesh sieve to eliminate the gritty bits from the black seeds or inner parts of the husks. Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for future use.

For optimal taste, create a small batch that will be used within 2 weeks.

Peanuts or Cashews?

Some prefer cashews, but I tend to gravitate toward dry roasted peanuts. Another change I made was using chicken thigh meat rather than breast. Not only are thighs cheaper, but they also tend to have a bit more flavor.

If you lean toward hotter foods, add more chili peppers and if you want a full-on meal, stir fry it with asparagus, broccoli or bok choy. Steamed white rice is a crowd pleaser, but honestly, I enjoy it more with brown rice.

The takeaway? Create a dish that fits your style and most importantly, your taste buds!

Ingredients

For the Chicken Marinade:

• 1 lb chicken breast / thigh
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ShaoXing Cooking wine or dry sherry
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon white pepper

For Kung Pao Chicken Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon dark sauce
• 3 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon black vinegar
• 3 tablespoon sugar add more if you want sweet
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 or 2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking wine or dry sherry
• ½ cup chicken stock

For Stir Fry:

• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• 5 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tablespoon minced ginger
• 10 dried chili peppers cut and take off the seeds
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns (toasted and lightly grind)
• 4-6 stalks scallions
• ½ cup unsalted peanuts
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Step by step instructions

1 First, marinate the chicken by adding the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.Prepare the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cook the Dish:

2 Heat 2 tablespoon oil over high heat. Cook the marinated chicken and place in a bowl. Set aside.

3 In the same wok add another tablespoon oil (in low-medium heat). Add the ginger, garlic, chilies, and Szechuan peppercorns. Stir and cook for 30 seconds or a minute to infuse the flavor on the oil.

4 Now, stir up your prepared Kung Pao sauce as the cornstarch may have settled to the bottom, so make sure it’s well incorporated.

5 Pour the sauce into the wok and let it boil. Add ¼ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar (optional if you don't want sweet). Keep stirring until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

6 Add the cooked chicken back to the wok/pot and stir fry all together. Now, you can add the scallions and the unsalted peanuts. Give everything a final stir and serve hot with jasmine rice.

Notes

1 If black vinegar is not available, you may use apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar or red wine vinegar.
2 Adjust the saltiness level accordingly as soy sauce has different level of sodium. If your sauce tastes too salty, just add more sugar and water.

Other recipes:

• Char Siu Bbq Pork
• Pork Ribs Recipe

Get the recipe below and enjoy! If you've tried the recipe or have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know below! Also, if you've tried it, we'd be happy to hear how it turned out.

Full Recipe