Kung Pao Chicken
One of the most famous Sichuan dish–kung pao chicken, made with boneless chicken thigh
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 large chicken thigh ( , remove skin and cut into small cubes (around 250g))
- ½ cup fried peanuts ( , you may use roasted peanuts or salt baked ones)
- 2 large scallion or 4 scallions ( , only white part, cut into small section.)
- 6 ~8 dried chili peppers ( , change the amount according how hot you wish it to be)
- 3 tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 tsp. whole Sichuan peppercorn ( , or you can use Sichuan peppercorn powder)
- 1 thumb ginger (, chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (, chopped )
- a small pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. cooking wine
- dash of white pepper
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. vegetable cooking oil
- ½ tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1/8 tsp. a small pinch of salt
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
- 1.5 tbsp. vinegar
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- dash of white pepper
Instructions
- 1
Firstly, add around 600g salt to the wok, and fry until hot. Place around 2 cups of peanuts in. Keep stir-frying the peanuts so make sure they are evenly heated. Continue heating for 6-8 minutes until you can hear Pa pa sound from the peanuts.
- 2
Strain and shift the salt out and then you will get super lovely peanuts. For this method, we have to remove the skin because salt is attached.
- 3
If you use chicken thigh: remove the bones by cutting a break on the top and then push the meat off with the help of a sharp knife. Cut the meat into long strips and further into one-bite cubes.
- 4
Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and marinate with salt, white pepper, cooking wine, and cornstarch. Mix well and then add 2 teaspoons of oil to coat the cubes. This helps to add a basic taste and create a protecting shell for the chicken so we can produce the tenderest chicken.
- 5
Mix all the bowl sauce, and set aside.
- 6
Heat up oil in wok until hot, pour in cold oil and then heat until warm. Place the chicken cubes in and let them stay for 3-5 seconds until the starch begins gelatinization. Gently fry until all of the chicken cubes begin to change color.
- 7
Transfer the chicken out. Add Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili pepper, and fry until aromatic. Place in garlic, ginger, and half of the scallion sections. Fry for another 10 seconds.
- 8
Return the chicken and mix well. Stir the sauce first and pour it in.
- 9
Fry until the sauce is well-coated. Mix with the remaining large scallion sections and fried peanuts, mix 3 seconds. Transfer out immediately.