Kung Pao Chicken is a traditional Sichuan dish. The main ingredient is chicken, stir-fried with peanuts, chili peppers and other seasonings. It has a fresh and spicy flavor, and the tender chicken complements the crispy peanuts.
You can find this dish in almost any Sichuan restaurant, along with other variations such as “Kung Pao Squid”, “Kung Pao Shrimp”, “Kung Pao Cabbage”, all of which seem to be stir-fried with dried chili peppers and various ingredients.
But do you know what “Kung Pao” actually means? “Ji Ding” (鸡丁) refers to diced chicken, which is easy to understand. But what about “Kung Pao”?
This dish was created by Ding Baozhen, a governor of Sichuan during the Qing dynasty. He was an expert in cooking and loved to eat chicken and peanuts, especially with a spicy flavor. During his tenure as governor, he created a delicious dish by stir-frying diced chicken, red chili peppers, and peanuts. This delicious dish was originally a private family recipe, but it became well-known over time. Since he was a “Taizi Shaobao” (太子少保) or “Imperial Guardian of the Heir Apparent”, it was later named “Kung Pao” chicken in his honor.
In fact, “Kung Pao” is Ding Baozhen’s honorific title.
Ingredients
- Sauce:
Instructions
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Combine salt ,egg white, cornstarch, light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine in a medium bowl. Add the chicken to the marinade and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
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In a cold wok, add peanuts and pour in enough oil to submerge them. Heat over low heat and fry slowly, stirring continuously. Fry the peanuts until they turn slightly brown, then remove, drain the excess oil, and place them on a plate.
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Remove all the oil from the wok. Preheating the wok before adding oil, when you see the smoke then you can add the oil over medium heat. Fry the marinated chicken for 2-3 minutes while occasionally stirring, until edges are lightly browned on both sides. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Add the dried red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry for 20 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the garlic and ginger stir-fry for an additional 20 seconds.
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Add chicken back into the wok. Pour in the sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until the sauce has thickened.
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Add the peanuts and green onions and stir-fry for another 1 minute. Remove from heat and serve with rice.
Notes
If you are allergic to peanuts, you can replace them with cashews.