Kung Pao Chicken

 

Adapted from Christine Gallary and Mrs. Chiang’s Szechwan Cookbook

Ingredients

For the chicken and sauce:

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

 

Marinade:

1/4 cup tamari or light soy sauce 

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon cornstarch (Dunlop uses Potato flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (This was too salty!)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper

 

Final Sauce:

1 tablespoon Chinese black (Chinkiang) or rice vinegar (2 tbls. - Dunlop)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon sambal oelek or chili-garlic paste

(Dunlop uses mix of  2 tsp. each light and dark soy sauce)

2 tsp. sesame oil (Dunlop)

1.5 tsp potato flour (Dunlop)

Remaining marinade from chicken

 

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

(Optional: Additional veg. See below.)

Kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

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

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 2 tablespoons of the mixture over the chicken and toss to combine; set the chicken aside.

Make the sauce. Add the vinegar, sugar, and sambal to the remaining marinade and whisk until the sugar is dissolved; set this sauce aside.

Stir-fry the vegetables and aromatics. Heat a flat-bottomed wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat until very hot (a flick of water should sizzle and evaporate right away), about 2 minutes. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of the oil, add the bell peppers 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.)

 Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.

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.

Return the vegetables to the pan and stir-fry with the sauce. Add the reserved vegetables and peanuts to the pan. Re-whisk the reserved sauce and marinade left over from chicken to dissolve the cornstarch. 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.