Kung Pao Chicken, the Authentic Way (宫保鸡丁)

The Cooking Procedure

It takes 4 simple steps to cook Kung Pao chicken. Here is a summary of what to expect in each step:

1. Marinate the chicken. Cut the chicken into bite-size cubes then mix with cornstarch, water and sesame oil.
2. Toast the peanuts (or cashew nuts) in a pan until lightly brown.
3. Mix the sauce with the following ingredients: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, black rice vinegar, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, cornstarch & water.
4. Stir fry the dish by adding the ingredients to the wok in the following sequence: ① Oil, dried chilli & Sichuan pepper; ② Marinated chicken; ③ Scallions, garlic & ginger; ④ The sauce; ⑤ Toasted nuts.

How to Prepare the Chicken

If you’re new to making meat-based stir-fry dishes, chicken is a great ingredient to start with. It retains its tender and moist texture pretty well during stir-frying if prepared with a simple marinade beforehand. Also, you don’t need to cut it into thin strips or slices. Cubes of chicken can be easily cooked through in a quick stir-fry.

Personally, I prefer chicken thighs for Kung Pao chicken, or other stir-fry dishes alike (eg. Black Pepper Chicken). It’s a flavoursome cut that contains a moderate amount of fat. Buy boneless, skinless thighs if possible. Trim off any excess fat if you wish.

That said, please feel free to use chicken breast. Marinate & stir-fry the same way. Be attentive not to overcook as chicken breast tends to have a drier texture than chicken thigh. So the timing is more crucial.

How to Achieve the Perfect Kung Pao Flavour

Now let’s talk about other ingredients that make Kung Pao chicken distinctly different from other chicken dishes. Consisting of common Chinese condiments, spices and nuts, they create a sophisticated and addictive flavour: savoury, umami, sour, sweet, spicy, mouth-numbing, smoky & nutty.

To produce the delicious “Kung Pao flavour”, each ingredient should show off its merit but not so strong that it overpowers other tastes. Let me list them and explain how they contribute to the dish.

The spices

Dried chilli & whole Sichuan pepper are used to create hot and numbing flavour. Also, they add a hint of smokiness if fried properly (see the section below for more information about these two spices).

Scallions, ginger & garlic

Indispensable in Chinese kitchens, these three ingredients are used generously in Kung Pao chicken. Scallions, in particular, are essential if you wish to make the dish authentic. Use the stem part only and chop them in chunks to match the chicken pieces (the leftover part can be used to cook Scallion Pancakes).

The sauce

It’s very important to get the sauce balanced. Through tests, I’ve come up with the following ratio which I think is perfect in taste. For making 2 servings, you’ll need:

• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1.5 tablespoon black rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

If this is your first time making Kung Pao chicken, I highly recommend you follow this formula and measure precisely to get a ‘test taste’. Then please feel free to adjust based on your own preferences.

The nuts

Authentic Kung Pao chicken also calls for peanuts (toasted or deep-fried) which adds another layer of flavour. You may replace them with cashew nuts. It’s important that you add the nuts at the very end of the stir-frying process. Otherwise, they would lose their crunchiness.

How to Choose Dried Chilli & Sichuan Pepper

Being a classic Sichuan dish, dried chilli and Sichuan pepper can not be omitted when cooking genuine Kung Pao chicken. Paired with each other, they create the iconic Sichuan flavour known as Mala/麻辣 which means numbing & hot.

However, the tanginess of Kung Pao chicken is not as high as other mala classics, such as Sichuan Boiled Beef or Chongqing Mala Chicken, etc. People with mild tolerance to spicy food would also enjoy it (that’s one of the reasons why it has become popular worldwide).

I usually use a combination of two types of dried chillies (see image above): Facing Heaven chillies (Chao Tian Jiao/朝天椒) which has a high spiciness and Lantern chillies (Deng Long Jiao/灯笼椒) which only has a hint of spiciness but are rather aromatic.

Please feel free to use any types of dried chillies that suits your hotness tolerance and are easily available to you. The key point is to choose the fresh-looking ones: vibrant and shiny in colour. I find chillies of Indian origin work very well.

Regarding Sichuan pepper, please check out my ultimate guide “Sichuan Pepper: Your Questions Answered”. It provides information on all aspects of this unique Chinese spice. A purchasing guide is included.

How to Stir-fry to Perfection

Timing is crucial when making stir-fry dishes if you are after the perfect look & taste. Here are some tips on each step that you might find helpful:

• Set your wok over high heat and fry dried chillies & Sichuan pepper in oil first. Keep a close eye to avoid burning. As soon as you sense the fragrance of the spices, add the marinated chicken. At this point, the chillies should still look red. They will darken later on and produce a hint of smokiness. If they look dark already at this stage, you are likely to burn them in the end.
• Fry the chicken pieces for about 30 seconds, then add scallions, garlic & ginger. Make sure you stir constantly to evenly heat the ingredients. When the chicken completely loses its pinkness, they should be cooked. Use the spatula to cut a piece to check if you’re not certain.
• Pour in the sauce (Give it a good stir beforehand). It will thicken pretty quickly (in about 20 seconds). Turn off the heat immediately.
• The last thing is to add the toasted peanuts (or cashew nuts). Stir to evenly distribute then dish out to serve.

Questions You May Have

Based on the questions I frequently receive, I’d like to list some of them which are related to this dish. Hope you’ll find them helpful.

Q: I love Kung Pao flavour but I’m vegetarian/vegan, is it possible to adapt this recipe?

A: That’s totally doable. King oyster mushroom is a great option. Also, you may use tofu to replace the chicken. Pan-fry the tofu pieces, like how I do it for the recipe “Pan-fried Tofu with Garlic Sauce” before stir-frying with other ingredients.

Q: Can I use other meat instead?

A: Yes, beef, pork, fish, scallop would work too. I have written tips on how to maximise the tenderness of beef and pork in recipes for “Beef & Chinese Broccoli Stir-fry” and “Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce”.

Q: I don’t have a wok. Can I use a frying pan instead?

A: Yes, you can. However, a traditional carbon steel wok does produce a more authentic taste.

Q: Can I add some vegetables to the dish?

A: Yes, please feel free to do so. The traditional recipe doesn’t call for vegetables other than scallions. However, increasingly restaurants (particularly the ones outside China) tend to add veggies, such as cucumber, bell pepper, onion, celery, etc.

Q: Can I replace black rice vinegar with balsamic vinegar or Shaoxing rice wine?

A: Not really. Chinese black rice vinegar has a quite unique taste which is very different from balsamic vinegar. Shaoxing rice wine is a type of cooking alcohol which has no similarity to vinegar.

Q: Is it customary to eat the dried chilli and Sichuan pepper in this dish?

A: No. They are for flavouring the main ingredients in the dish.

Other Classic Dishes Using Chicken

Looking for more inspiration? Have a look at the following recipes which also use chicken as the star ingredient.

• Ginger Chicken (老姜鸡)
• Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms (香菇蒸鸡)
• Five Spice Roast Chicken (五香烤鸡)
• Big Plate Chicken with Belt Noodles (大盘鸡)
• Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken (三杯鸡)
• Mouthwatering Chicken Salad (口水鸡)