Home Cooking: Kung Pao Chicken

Home Cooking is a monthly series where we share creative and tasty recipes for you to try at home!

The time has come to try cooking your first Chinese dish. Really though, what’s the point of ordering kung pao chicken every time you return home while raving about “how much better it is in China” if you still can’t prepare it yourself?

Before you buckle under lazy reluctance, however, let us just say this: it’s easy… really. Recruit a friend to help you with the chopping and you’ll be ready to eat in less than half an hour! 

The trick is in the first fry – be sure your wok is scorching hot before tossing on the oil, and add the chilies, peppercorns, ginger, garlic and scallions shortly after. Let them tumble around for a bit before sprinkling in a pinch of salt, and then, if the smoke starts, a spoonful of water. This will seal in each ingredient’s flavor and create layers of taste as opposed to one overwhelming aroma, which often happens where soy sauce is involved.

The combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy components in this Sichuanese dish packs a punch of flavor like no other in Chinese cuisine. Serve it with a platter of stir-fried veggies and white rice for a convenient, mouthwatering meal, and start telling your friends “I made that” instead of “it’s better in China.”

Ingredients:

• 175g dark chicken meat

• 75g fried peanuts

• 5g dried hot red chilies

• 2g Sichuan peppercorns

• 5g ginger (sliced)

• 5g garlic (sliced)

• 5g scallions (sliced, white part only)

• 2g salt

• 3g monosodium glutamate (optional)

• 8g sugar

• 3g soy sauce

• 10g balsamic vinegar

• 15g chili oil

• 3g cooking starch

• 2g Chinese rice wine

Preparation:

1. Dice the dark chicken meat and mix with salt, soy sauce, cooking wine and cooking starch. Marinate for around one hour.

2. Mix the salt, sugar, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and cooking starch in a bowl until it reaches a thick consistency.

3. Pour oil into a hot wok and stir-fry the dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic and scallions on high heat to release the spice. 

4. Add the chicken cubes. Fry until they turn slightly brown. 

5. Add the sauce, rice wine and fried peanuts. Stir-fry together with chili oil for about one minute. Serve immediately.

This recipe is courtesy of Chef Liao Chunxin of the White Swan Hotel.

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