Kung Pao Chicken
I have been making this Kung Pao Chicken recipe for about twenty years. It’s one of my favorite dishes. The dried red chiles in it are VERY HOT, and the first time I ordered this dish in a restaurant, I didn’t know that you aren’t supposed to eat them. One bite was all it took to keep me from ever making that mistake again!
Freshly grated ginger, green onions, and peanuts all add to the wonderful flavor of Kung Pao Chicken.
And so does the soy sauce. Kikkoman brand is my favorite and the only one I ever use.
If you like spicy food, you’ll love Kung Pao Chicken!
Recipe by: Origin Unknown/Adapted by Winner Dinners
Serves about 4
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 pounds of chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
3 tablespoons salad oil, divided
about 5 small dried hot red chiles
1/2 cup salted or dry-roasted peanuts
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 bunch of green onions, cut in 1-1/2 inch pieces
hot cooked rice
COOKING SAUCE:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
In a bowl, stir together water, cornstarch, and salt. Add chicken and stir to coat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the oil and let marinate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare cooking sauce by stirring together all ingredients; set aside. Place a wok over medium heat, and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When oil is hot, add chiles and peanuts and stir until chiles just begin to char. Remove chiles and peanuts from wok. Pour 1 tablespoon oil into wok. Add garlic and ginger and stir at once. Then add the chicken mixture. Increase the heat to high. Stir-fry until meat is no longer pink in center (about 3 minutes); cut to test. Add peanuts, chiles, and green onions. Stir cooking sauce and pour into wok; stir until sauce boils and thickens. Serve over hot cooked rice.
If I want to make this for my kids (who don’t love super spicy things), how many peppers should I decrease the recipe by and still have the necessary flavor? Thanks!
Heather, it’s hard to say—for several reasons. First of all, I’ve discovered that not all of those chile peppers have the same intense spicy taste. Additionally, they aren’t all the same size, and larger chiles would make it spicier than smaller ones. I remember making it one time and it was way, way, way, TOO HOT. I mean we were literally sweating while we were eating it. That said, the bag of chile peppers that I have right now aren’t spicy enough for my liking. It’s really an individual thing, and the chiles you use can make a huge difference one way or the other. I think you would just have to start with one or two, taste it, and then if you want more spice, add more.
Thanks for commenting!
Hi. If you had to use a substitute for sugar, what would it be?
Hi Jan! Well, I’m not really sure. I guess it would depend on your reason for not wanting to put the sugar into it. My husband sometimes uses Sweet’N Low when he’s dieting, so I guess you could use that. Honey is another sweetener that would probably work. Or if your reason for not wanting the sugar is because you don’t like much of a sweet taste, you could probably just eliminate the sugar without replacing it.
I hope that helps. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Laura!! Kung Pao Chicken is my absolute favorite! Most places I go have horrible Kung Pao. I cant wait to start making it for my husband and I. Thank you so much!!
-Kika
Kika, thanks for stopping by. If you like Kung Pao as much as I do, I’m sure you will enjoy this recipe. It’s been one of our favorites for about 20 years.
I don’t consider it hot until I start hiccuping.
I guess we have something in common then, Mike.
Hey Laura, I’m not much of one who cooks and this was one of my first dishes. I loved the recipe but once I added the sauce at the end and it began to thicken, I felt like it was too thick. Do I need to add less corn starch or sugar? I just want the sauce to be thinner, perhaps I miss-measured something, but the sauce became almost gelatinous. Any pointers?
Hi Topher. Yes, the cornstarch is what you would want to decrease if you want the sauce to be thinner. Thanks for your comment!
Update: I think Topher is right and the sauce shouldn’t be quite so thick. I just decreased the cornstarch from 1/4 cup to 3 tablespoons.
Would you believe that my favorite things in this recipe are the spring onions and peanuts and not the chicken
I think this is a serious contender for tonight’s dinner.