Kung Pao Chicken
A one-wok stir-fry that hits sweet, sour, and spicy all at once — peanuts bring the crunch, dried chilli brings the heat, and the sauce glazes everything in a couple of minutes.
Kung Pao Chicken
A one-wok stir-fry that hits sweet, sour, and spicy all at once — peanuts bring the crunch, dried chilli brings the heat, and the sauce glazes everything in a couple of minutes.
- Cuisine: Chinese (Sichuan)
- Category: main
- Difficulty: easy
Ingredients
- chicken thigh, cut into 2 cm pieces
- dried red chilli, snipped in half
- roasted peanuts
- soy sauce
- rice vinegar
- sugar
- garlic cloves, sliced
- ginger, cut into matchsticks
Method
- Cut 350 g chicken thigh into roughly 2 cm pieces. Toss with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and a pinch of white pepper. Let it sit while you heat the wok.
- Heat 2 tablespoons neutral oil in a wok over high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken in a single layer and leave it untouched for a minute so the underside browns; turn and cook another minute. Remove and set aside on a plate.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the same wok. Throw in 5 or 6 snipped dried red chillies, 3 slices of garlic, and a few matchsticks of ginger. Stir for about 30 seconds — just long enough to smell them, not burn them.
- Toss the chicken back in. Add 1/4 cup of roasted peanuts, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 cup of water or light stock. Stir everything together and let it bubble for a minute or two until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken.
- Serve straight from the wok over steamed rice. The peanuts will be partly crushed, which is fine — that releases more flavour into the sauce.