Kung Pao Chicken

 Adapted from Christine Gallary and Mrs. Chiang’s Szechwan Cookbook and "Every Grain of Rice." (PLUS some more Sichuan ingredients, all optional.)

Ingredients

For the chicken and sauce:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon cornstarch (Dunlop uses Potato flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper

 

Final Sauce:

2 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (Chinkiang)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon chili-garlic paste (or sambal oelek which is chili without the garlic)

1 - 2 tsp dark soy sauce*

1 - 2 tsp light soy sauce*

1½ tsp cornstarch

1 - 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  (This was too salty - consider 1/4 - 1/2 tsp MSG)

*Dunlop uses mix of  2 tsp. each light and dark soy sauce. This was too much. Can always add at the table. Most recently, I used 1 tsp of each dark and light AND added a tablespoon each of Sichuan Broad Bean sauce and Sichuan Chili Bean sauce (Toban Djan) and thought it was better.

Aromatics, spices, and veggies for the stir-fry:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

2 medium bell peppers, large dice

2 medium celery stalks, thinly sliced on a slight diagonal

½ medium onion, sliced thin, pole to pole

(Optional: Additional veg. See below.)

Kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)

• 4–8 small dried red chilies (reduced; snip and deseed) + 1 fresh jalapeño, sliced into thin rings (seeds in for max heat)
• 1–1½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 (or more) tsp Lee Kum Kee Sichuan Style Broad Bean Sauce
• 1 (or more) tsp Lee Kum Kee Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan)

1/2 - 1 cup roasted peanuts

2 medium scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

Steamed rice, for serving (optional)

 

Instructions

Marinate the chicken. Place the chicken in a medium bowl. Place the tamari or soy sauce, wine or sherry, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved. Drizzle mixture over the chicken and toss to combine; set the chicken aside.

Make the sauce. Add the vinegar, sugar, soy sauces, corn starch, sesame oil, MSG, and sambal to the remaining marinade and whisk until the sugar is dissolved; set this sauce aside.

Stir-fry the chicken. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons oil into the pan. Add the chicken and spread into an even layer. Let cook undisturbed until golden-brown and seared on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir-fry until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from wok and set aside.

Stir-fry the vegetables and aromatics. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of the oil, add the bell peppers, onion, and celery, and season with salt. Stir-fry with a metal spatula until crisp-tender and browned in spots, about 4 minutes.

(Can add significantly more veg here. We added half a bag of Trader Joes Broccoli slaw later in the cooking, and could have added more or regular broccoli or whatever.)(Used a quarter head of shredded cabbage and could've used half a head.) (Last couple times used chopped broccolini. Put the stems in early with the peppers and celery, then the tops closer to the end of cooking time.) Cauliflower also works.

 When veg nearly cooked, add the scallion whites and jalapeno (if using) and cook briefly. Then add the broad bean sauce, chili bean sauce, garlic and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.

Return the chicken to the pan and stir-fry with the sauce. Add the reserved vegetables and peanuts to the pan. Pour into the pan and stir-fry until the sauce thickens, is glossy, and evenly coats everything in the pan, about 1 minute more. Sprinkle with the scallions if using and serve immediately with rice.

Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Christine Gallary graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and she has worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW.com. She lives in San Francisco and loves teaching cooking classes. Follow her latest culinary escapades on Instagram.