Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken, the Lunch of Champions
It's the end of July. Which means that journalists, foreigner tourists, and mainland Chinese alike have started flooding into town for the Olympics. In the next few weeks, many of them will probably eat their fair share of Kung Pao Chicken, which has been designated the official dish of the 2008 Summer Games.
Why not a native Beijing dish, like Peking duck? My guess is because Peking duck is labor-intensive, somewhat expensive, and suitable only for large groups. The humble Gongbao Jiding(宫爆鸡丁) from Sichuan province, however, is easy to prepare, cheap, and more filling than a Clif Bar if you're eating alone. Heck, the sporting venues could even sell it in the stands, as the Chinese equivalent of caramel popcorn or hot dogs. And since Kung Pao Chicken doesn't contain offal or an awkward English translation, Westerners absolutely love it.
From my post in May on Kung Pao Tofu:
"The origin of (Kung Pao Chicken) is much debated. One popular theory is that Ding Baozhen, a Qing Dynasty emperor, enjoyed eating it so much that the dish was named after his officlal title, Gong Bao. Most people believe it to be of Sichuan or Hunan origin, though this NYTimes article says otherwise. What is important, though, is the sensational salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors and mingling on the palate.
Americanized versions often neglect the Sichuan peppercorns (Ed. - 花椒 huajiao in Chinese), which is a shame since the mala spiciness is integral to the dish. Another faux-pas cooks there often make is adding tons of vegetatables like bell peppers and broccoli. The main protein, blistered chilis, and peanuts should be stars; chunks of vegetables get in the way in terms of both flavor and appearance."
I have made a few improvements to the recipe in the past few months. I no longer add water to the marinade, so that the flavor can be more concentrated and there is less liquid to drain away when I start cooking.
I also never slice the chilis anymore to remove the seeds. The chances of a chili pepper cracking in the middle of cooking and unleashing hot seeds all over my chicken are too small for me to bother deseeding. Leaving the chilis whole cuts the time to prepare this by a third. And after running out of gloves a few times, I have suffered burning, mind-numbing pain when removing my contacts hours later, even after I fastidiously washed my hands with a combination of milk, yogurt, soap, and water.
So, if you're not in Beijing in August for the games, you can still eat the official Olympic dish while sitting in front of your TV with the AC on and and cheering for your respective country. I may do the same, since I didn't score that many tickets, and the weather outside will still be incredibly hot and stuffy.
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Kung Pao Chicken
Adapted from Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop
Serves 2 as a main entree, or 4 as part of a multi-course meal
16 ounces chicken breast
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
5 to 6 scallions
At least 10 dried red chilis
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
At least one handful of dry roasted peanuts
For marinade:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
For sauce:
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon dark Soy sauce
1 teaspoon light Soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chicken stock or water
Cube chicken breast and mix in the marinade mixture. Let stand while you prepare the other ingredients.
If you haven't done so already, mince the garlic and peel and slice the ginger. Roughly chop the white parts of scallions, and thinly slice the green parts for garnish. Leave the dried chilis whole, or if you're really worried about seeds falling out, slice them in half and take out as many seeds as possible (wear gloves!)
In another bowl, mix together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside. (Note: Different brands of soy sauces vary in terms of saltiness, so taste your sauce. If it's too salty, add some sugar and water to dilute.)
Heat a wok with oil over high heat. Before the wok begins to smoke, add the chilis and Sichuan peppercorn. Stir-fry briefly until the chilis are slightly blistered and black and oil is slightly fragrant. Add chicken cubes and stir-fry 3 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, and scallions, and stir-fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Pour in sauce and mix to coat the other ingredients. When the sauce is thickened and shiny, stir in peanuts. Mix to coat, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer to plates, garnish with thinly sliced scallions, and serve.
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Other chicken recipes to try:
- Chicken Congee with Goji Berries
- Chicken Lollipops
- Chicharrones de Pollo with Paprika Onions
- Chinese-Caribbean "Jerk" Chicken Wings
- General Tso's Chicken
- Sichuan-Style Chicken Noodle Soup
- Soy-Braised Chicken
- Spicy Chicken in Black Bean Sauce
- Spicy Wok-Fried Chicken with Chili (Lazi jiding)
- Three Cup Chicken
- Vietnamese Clay-Pot Chicken
Chiles for Kung Pao chicken (宫爆鸡丁)
Here in Los Angeles California, at the 99 Ranch Market, I am able to purchase Sichuan (aka: Szechuan, Szechwan, and Sichwan) Chiles, in a clear cellophane bag. These chiles, somewhat shaped like small Chinese lanterns, have an excellent flavor. More to the point, their heat does not last on the tongue for more than a moment.
Hmmm
I wonder if there was an official food for the Atlanta or Salt Lake City games.
Apparently MacDonald's has
Apparently MacDonald's has been the Official Restaurant for the Summer and Winter Games since 2000.
Yummmmmm
Very authentic recipe...can't wait to try it!
We made this to celebrate
We made this to celebrate opening night of the Olympics - excellent!
Hahaha, re: the contacts,
Hahaha, re: the contacts, I've done the same thing!
I posted on the version of this recipe from Grace Young's Breath of a Wok, although I much prefer the Land of Plenty version.
I find that my sichuan peppercorns burn if i add them first, so I've taken to grinding them and adding them later in the recipe.
Do you have any other Land of Plenty recipes to recommend?
Oliver - Try the mapo doufu
Oliver - Try the mapo doufu and the sweet and sour red peppers, two of my favorites!
This looks wicked good, I
This looks wicked good, I managed to find some sichuan peppers corns and I am going to make it soon. Do you remove the chilis from this before you serve it or do you leave them in and eat them? If you leave them in, why be worried about seeds popping out?
Bob - You just leave the
Bob - You just leave the chilis in when serving. Whole chilis tend a smoky flavor and a bit of tingly spiciness. It's very rare that the seeds will pop out, but some people worry about that happening and making the dish overwhelmingly spicy. I say don't worry about it.
Looks delicious!
And a lot more authentic than the recipes I've found elsewhere online. I just discovered this blog and find myself overwhelmed with all the recipes I want to try cooking.
Incredible Post
What an awesome recipe! And the pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Well done! I'll definitely be firing up the wok to give this recipe a try.
I thought kung pao always
I thought kung pao always had fermented chili paste and bean sauce in it?
marc - The sauce for Sichuan
marc - The sauce for Sichuan Kung Pao is pretty light, absent of fermented beans and chili paste. Mapo tofu, on the other hand, does have fermented both of the above.
Making it look so easy!
From what I gather, this recipe is fantastic. I get nervous trying new cooking and new foods, but this looks so darn good! *runs to the fridge* :)
Awesome Recipe
Tried your kung pao chicken recipe earlier for supper. I have to say it is THE best recipe I have found so far and it is def a keeper for our family. Everyone loves the kung pao chicken. Thanks for posting such an awesome authentic recipe.
Kung Pao Chicken.
A conveninet way to make a tasty Kungo Pao chicken dish is to use a recipe kit that contains the sauces and marinades in it - and add your fresh ingredients.
thanks for this recipe! I
thanks for this recipe! I made it for dinner and it was authentic and fantastic. We like it hot and a little more saucy so I doubled up on the sauce ingredients and the dried chilis and cut each in half (didn't remove the seeds). yum!
Kung Pao Chicken - A Must Try
Thanks for taking the time to share my favorite recipe. Your Kung Pao Chicken recipe seems much simpler than what I am using.
ZOWIE!!!!
I had never bought Szechuan peppercorns before, so this was my inaugural recipe, since so many others of yours have been good. ZOWIE, that first bite is intense. Sweet, hot, mind-searing, lip-numbing intense. WAY too hot, I thought. But let me try a bit more. OK, maybe a bit more.
Let's just say that I'm glad my wife isn't a big eater and that it was too hot for her. I finished mine, and packed hers for my lunch tomorrow.
That is SO SO SO good.
Basis of my version, which has evolved somewhat
I now make this regularly... well, a version of it. The garlic is up to 20 cloves now, with a volume of ginger to match and the scallions lagging behind a little. I use no cornstarch, thicken the sauce with peanuts-only peanut butter and sweeten it with sucralose to reduce the carbs, use rather more rice wine (or very dry sherry) and soy sauce for the marinade, use brown sorghum vinegar rather than rice sometimes... I've experimented with various small peppers that I can get easily from the Mexican brand suppliers (chiles arbol work well, chiles japones are too mild but work if you use a LOT and eat them rather than set them aside when you eat the dish), tried slitting them open and removing the seeds or not. (On the longer, cayenne-type peppers I prefer to remove the seeds.) The Sichuan peppers are up to a heaping tablespoon, and picking through them to remove those annoyingly crunchy and essentially flavorless seeds (it's faster to discard any "Pac-Man" shaped fruits that haven't let go of the seed, but thrift makes me waste time removing the seeds). Enough sweetness and vinegar really improve the balance of this dish for me.
Probably I'm committing atrocities on the recipe, but I like the results of them...
Mark - No worries. Recipes
Mark - No worries. Recipes are meant to be altered to suit your tastebuds. I'm interested in experimenting with Mexican chiles myself in this dish...
Pretty good!
Made the Kung Pao recipe tonight for dinner... Very good! I made double the sauce recipe because I like mine a little more moist. Flavors were excellent. Don't worry about the whole chilies. Just warn your eaters to watch out for them! I served the kung pao with the dan dan mian, which was in my opinion the star of the meal! It made it with some pork shoulder that I had ground coarsely with my meat grinder. I found fresh chinese egg noodles in my local Asian market in the freezer section. The fresh noodles made all the difference. Kudos on the two recipes!
Matt - Thanks! Glad you
Matt - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed both.
Thanks for the recipes
Hi Diana, I've been using a lot of your recipes and find them pretty easy to make here in China compared to other so-called Chinese recipes in English which require ingredients that aren't readily sold in China! Among others, your Sichuan dry-fried green beans/干煸豆角 recipe is almost perfect. So I'd like to say thanks.
But I'd also like to point out that it's not just Americans who ruin the classical chicken + peanuts + peppers harmony of kung pao. I live in north China, and nearly all 家常菜/homestyle versions of the dish feature big chunks of green pepper, cucumber, carrot, and/or bamboo. Go to a Sichuan restaurant, conversely, and it's spice heaven with little veggies to sweeten it up.
In my own version of kung pao (link to a picture), which is pretty close to yours, I toss in some chopped rolls of "big onion" (大葱) at the end, which adds texture and flavor to the dish. I stole, um, borrowed this touch from a north China Sichuan restaurant chain which, strangely, no longer sells kung pao chicken, but offers a mean kung pao shrimp.
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