Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁

🧂 Ingredients

• 600 g Boneless chicken
• 3 stalks Chinese leeks

  (you can also use one stalk of western small-size leeks) Note that this is different from Chinese chives
• 4 cloves Garlic

  chopped
• 80 g Skinless fried peanuts
• 10 g Dried chilies
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce
• ½ tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 ½ tsp Corn starch
• 60 ml Water

  *For extra Sichuan authenticity, substitute the water used in the marinade for ginger onion water 薑蔥水（jiāng cōng shǔi）. Simply add 100ml of water to a small pot. Add 2 large slices of ginger and 2 stalks of green onions (cut into large pieces) to the pot of water. Bring mixture to a boil, cover the pot with a lid and turn off the heat. Set aside for 30 minutes. After it has cooled, strain and use this water in place of regular water to marinade the chicken.
• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Corn starch
• 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

  (or any black vinegar) I use Chinkiang vinegar aka Zhenjiang vinegar
• 3 tbsp Water

Instructions

• 1 If your peanuts have not been fried, you will need to remove the skin, and then
  either toast or fry them in a pan with or without oil until golden. Use low
  heat. Remove from heat and set aside
• 2 Cut chicken into 2.5cm (1”) cubes and place in a mixing bowl the size of my
  chicken is relatively larger than what is typical. I do this because I am not
  deep frying my chicken beforehand and so the chicken needs to cook longer in the
  wok. Plus, I’m a bit slower than restaurant chefs so larger pieces will make it
  less likely for me to overcook the chicken. You can cut them smaller if you like
• 3 Add 1 tsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 ½ tsp cornstarch and 60 ml
  water to the diced chicken Adding water to meat is a technique called 打水 (dá
  shǔi) or “hit water” (hitting the meat with water). This will make your meat
  moist and tender. I generally use 10:1 meat to water ratio
• 4 Mix all the ingredients with the chicken until all the water has been absorbed.
  Let sit for 5 minutes I find it easiest to use your hands to mix the
  ingredients. Water absorption is better when you squeeze the meat slightly with
  your hands while you stir in one direction and mix in the marinade.
• 5 Give the chicken a stir and add 1 tsp oil to the chicken, mix well and set aside
  This step is critical to seal the water with the meat
• 6 Wash the Chinese leeks, cut them into 4cm (1.5”) pieces and set aside
• 7 Prepare chopped garlic and measure dried chilies (approx. 1 big handful) Dried
  chilies are not very spicy. If you want to add more heat, you can chop up a few
  fresh Thai chilies. You can also add whole Sichuan peppercorn along with the dry
  chilies to add more heat!
• 8 Prepare sauce by combining 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, ½ tsp
  Sichuan peppercorn powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp Chinese black
  vinegar and 3 tbsp water
• 9 Heat your wok to medium-high, add 2 tbsp oil
• 10 Add dried chilies, the thick parts of the leeks and garlic to the wok. Fry for
  10-15 seconds until you smell the garlic aroma and remove from the wok, leaving
  only the oil in the wok You’ll notice that in my photo, I did not remove the
  chilies and garlic which resulted in my chilies being burnt
• 11 Turn up the heat to high You get best results for this dish on high heat, but
  you can use medium-high heat as well
• 12 Put the chicken into the wok in a single layer. Make some breathing space
  between some of the chicken pieces to allow the steam to escape. Do not stir or
  move the chicken for 1 minute This will allow for the chicken to get a good sear
• 13 After 1 minute, flip the chicken over and don’t move it for 30 seconds
• 14 After 30 seconds, start stir-frying the chicken and add the garlic and chilies
  and mix well
• 15 Spread the chicken to the side of the wok, add peanuts and leeks to the centre
  of the wok.
• 16 Stir-fry everything together for 30 seconds to a minute.
• 17 Add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine to the outer part of the wok (not directly on the food)
  and stir-fry
• 18 Clear some space in the middle of the wok. Stir the prepared sauce mixture and
  add it to the cleared space and stir-fry everything together until sauce has
  thickened and chicken is done
• 19 Serve

Nutrition Info