Kung Pao Chicken

Name: Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients: 300g chicken tenderloin (washed, tendons and fat removed, scored with cross-cut, diced); 15g dried chili peppers (wiped clean, stems and seeds removed, cut into short sections); 5g Sichuan peppercorns; 50g peanuts (red skin removed, fried until crispy); 10g ginger (cut into small square slices); 10g scallion (cut into short sections); 10g garlic (cut into small square slices); 25g vegetable oil; 25g rendered lard (add as needed); 2g salt; 20g cooking wine; 80g water chestnut starch; 25g soy sauce; 15g vinegar; 15g white sugar; 0.5g MSG; 50g soup

Glossy brown-red with a glistening sheen, tender and crisp, with a bold lychee-like fragrance and a deeply savory finish.

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Story

Kung Pao Chicken is one of the most celebrated classics of Sichuan cuisine, named after Ding Baozhen, a Qing dynasty governor of Sichuan known by his honorary title Gongbao. The dish is a masterful balance of the region's signature "ma la" sensation — the fiery heat of dried chilies intertwined with the tongue-tingling numbness of Sichuan peppercorns — rounded out by a gentle, almost wine-like sweetness reminiscent of fresh lychees. Tender cubes of chicken are wok-tossed with roasted peanuts, scallions, and dried red chilies, each ingredient contributing texture and aroma in a single, harmonious stir-fry. Today it is enjoyed across China and beyond as a quintessential expression of bold, layered Sichuan flavor.

Ingredients

chicken tenderloin (washed, tendons and fat removed, scored with cross-cut, diced) 300g

dried chili peppers (wiped clean, stems and seeds removed, cut into short sections) 15g

Sichuan peppercorns 5g

peanuts (red skin removed, fried until crispy) 50g

ginger (cut into small square slices) 10g

scallion (cut into short sections) 10g

garlic (cut into small square slices) 10g

vegetable oil 25g

rendered lard (add as needed) 25g

salt 2g

cooking wine 20g

water chestnut starch 80g

soy sauce 25g

vinegar 15g

white sugar 15g

MSG 0.5g

soup 50g

Instructions

Marinating

Wash the chicken breast clean, remove all tendons and fat, pound loose with the flat of a knife, first score a cross-hatch pattern (to a depth of 2/3 of the meat's thickness), then chop into 1.5 cm cubes. Add salt, cooking wine, and water starch, mix well, and marinate.

Preparing Ingredients

Wipe the dried chili peppers clean, remove the stems and seeds, and cut into short segments; cut the scallions into short segments; cut the ginger and garlic into small square slices; remove the red skin from the peanuts, fry them in oil until crisp, then remove and set aside.

Mixing the Sauce

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, cooking wine, MSG, water starch, and stock, and mix well into a lychee-flavor sauce (sweet-and-sour).

Stir-Frying

Place the wok over high heat, add vegetable oil and heat until hot. When the chili segments have been stir-fried until brownish-red, add the Sichuan peppercorns and briefly stir-fry, then add an appropriate amount of lard. Add the chicken cubes and stir-fry to separate them, add the ginger, garlic, and scallions and briefly stir-fry, pour in the sauce, quickly toss in the wok and add the peanuts, toss to combine, then remove from the heat, plate, and serve.