Thursday, April 30, 2009

Kung Pao


I don’t know what else to say about this other than, really folks you have to try it. It was so good, I had to beg my husband to leave me just a cups worth to have for lunch the next day. He did. I ate it for breakfast. I swear I couldn’t wait for lunch!!

I stole this from Cinnamon and Spice, you really MUST go see her http://cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/


I had been dying to make this recipe for weeks and kept forgetting to get certain things I needed. I finally got most of it and decided to make do with what I had on hand. That said, I used about ¾ of a teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of the chilis and Sichuan. For me, my dish was great, but could have had more heat, so do what you want. Also I used regular onion, 1 bell pepper and 2 medium carrots diced. I just wanted some more veggies. Since I had more volume I doubled the sauce. I think however you could use a banana peel and this would still be amazing (yes it really was that good, don‘t know why, just good). So give it a try.

http://cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2009/04/spicy-chicken-with-peanuts-or-kung-pao.html

Kung Pao Chicken
Spicy Chicken with peanuts
Gong bao ju ding
(adapted from Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold
page 109)

For the chicken
2 cups chicken breast
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
2 teaspoon beaten egg or egg white
3 teaspoon corn flour or cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon white wine

Supporting vegetables
1 tablespoon spring/green onion(we added extra), cut in 1/2 pieces
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
4-6 fine slices ginger, each cut into quarters
3-6 dried red chilies, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns(we used black)

For the sauce mix
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoon red rice vinegar
1 teaspoon cooking wine
1-2 tablespoon of a 1-2 cornflour and water mix(we used cornstarch)
1-2 tablespoon additional water
salt to taste
1 and 1/2 tablespoon oil

Brown rice, for serving over

Cube the chicken breast in small pieces a little bigger than the peanuts. Sprinkle them with
salt and wine and mix well with egg/egg white and cornflour. Make sure they are coated but not
sloppy.

Mix together the sauce ingredients.

To cook, heat the wok to a high heat, add the oil, swirl around, and fry the chilies and peppercorns
for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, garlic, ginger, and onion.
Stir-fry these to allow the flavor to come out, then add the peanuts.

Add the liquid ingredients (stirring first to dissolve the cornflour) and allow it to come to the boil stirring
gently. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, to thicken, and then add additional liquid until the sauce
reaches the desired consistency. Add extra salt to taste, mix well, remove from heat, and serve over rice
if desired.

14 comments:

Reeni said...

I'm so glad you liked it! It's a big favorite in my house too. Your so funny-the banana peel. It is really, really delicious. Thanks for trying it out!

Chef E said...

My students today were asking for this, so maybe we just have to show case it too! I have to beg my hubby to! He will eat the last drop if I do not warn him...this is a lunch portion...this is your dinner, lol

Coleens Recipes said...

Whenever I hear the words Kung Pao Chicken, I always think of the Seinfeld episode where George is eating it LOL. Eating leftovers for breakfast is truly a sign of a great recipe.

Heather S-G said...

Yum, sounds delicious! Reeni always has great recipes, doesn't she!? I probably would have eaten it for breakfast, too :)

Donna-FFW said...

I saw this on Reenis site too and it looked delicious. Yours look awesome as well. Thanks for reminding me about it.

Anonymous said...

I need to make this too - we love it.

teresa said...

This looks SO good! I'll have to give it a try!

zerrin said...

I'm always in search for different dishes of chicken and this one really sounds hearty. Stumbled as usual.

Chris said...

Kung Pao makes me think of Vince from ShamWow;)

I'll give this a try. I like to pound my pieces of chicken flat for my stir fry because thats how the local stir fry joints do here.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I had Reeni's recipe printed all ready to go. Now seeing yours, I know I have to make this!

Treehouse Chef said...

Yum! can't wait to try this!

Anonymous said...

YUM! I Hardly ever cook Asian. Must try. Delicious.

Rico said...

Well that is a really good interpretation of the dish well done greatfull for you having shared with us and for attributing the link to the right person.. gratz :) xx Rico-Recipes

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

This is great-am going over now to check the original recipe now :)