Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 3 egg whites separated
- 4½ tbsp cornflour
- 1½ tsp sesame oil
- 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 750 ml rapeseed oil
For the sauce:
- 1½ red chilli alternatively, use 12 Chinese Red Peppers or Tianjin peppers
- 9 cloves garlic
- 1½ red pepper
- 9 spring onion
- 1½ thumb sized piece fresh ginger
- 115 g roasted unsalted peanuts
- 3 tbsp cornflour
- 75 ml rice wine
- 75 ml dark soy sauce
- 75 ml chicken stock
- 3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar optional
- 1½ tbsp sesame oil
- 1½ tbsp caster sugar
- sea salt
To serve:
- 375 g basmati rice cooked
Equipment
Chopping board x 2
Chopping knife
Whisk
Microplane
Wok
Colander
Large bowl
Large spoon
Instructions
- First prep the chicken. Cut the chicken into 3 cm pieces.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cornflour, sesame oil and a pinch of salt.
- Add the chicken pieces and toss until completely coated.
- Prep the sauce ingredients. Peel and finely grate the garlic and ginger. Thinly slice the red chilli.
- Thinly slice the spring onions on the diagonal. Deseed and slice the red pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large wok over a high heat and once hot, add the chicken and fry until cooked through, golden brown and crisp.
- Once the chicken is cooked, drain in a colander set over a bowl. Remove the majority of the oil, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of oil in the wok.
- Whisk together the cornflour with a little of the chicken stock before whisking in the rest of the stock, rice wine, chinese black vinegar and soy sauce.
- Bring the heat back up to high on the wok and add the red pepper, ginger, spring onions, garlic and peanuts. Stir fry until aromatic and the garlic and ginger are lightly browned.
- Add the chicken back to the pan with the sliced chilli, chicken stock mixture, sesame oil and sugar. Bring to a steady simmer and cook until the sauce becomes slightly thickened for a further 3 minutes.
- Once the chicken is glossy, serve with rice.
Notes
This dish originates from the Sichuan province of China. Its sweet, sticky and spicy sauce is an ideal coating for crispy nuggets of chicken. Traditional recipes call for Chinese black vinegar for the sharpness it adds. If you can’t track it down, you could possibly swap with balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar, to achieve the sharpness this dish requires.
You may need to cook this recipe in batches if you don't have a big enough pan.
Nutrition
Calories: 512kcal