Recipe – Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken has the perfect combination of salty, sweet and spicy flavours and goes well with steamed rice. I used Cafe Delites’ recipe that’s for 6 people, but portioned it for 2 persons.

Ingredients
800g chicken breast
1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons Chinese shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon + 5 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon corn flour
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons cooking oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon ginger
1/2 green capsicum
1/2 red capsicum
8 dried chilli
1 tablespoon grounded Sichuan peppercorns
4 spring onions
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Instructions
1. Combine chicken breast, shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, baking soda and corn flour. Cover and marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk chicken stock, light soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sugar and corn flour together until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
3. Grind Sichuan peppercorns.
4. Heat a large wok, add cooking oil and fry marinated chicken until edges are browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Add remaining cooking oil into the same wok. Stir in garlic, ginger, capsicums and Sichuan peppercorns. Stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Give the prepared sauce a mix before pouring into the wok. Bring it to a boil while stirring.
7. Once it begins to thicken, add chicken back into the wok and mix all ingredients until evenly coated.
8. Add spring onions, peanuts and sesame oil. Toss well and continue to cook for another 2 minutes to infuse the flavours together.

This recipe serves 6 people and takes approximately 10 minutes to prepare and another 10 minutes to cook. Took me a few attempts to get the flavours right. I like my Kung Pao Chicken with a spicy kick!

Check out the recipe video that I’ve created on Instagram at @lex.eatslower.