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A grey bowl containing spicy chicken stir fry with peanuts, chillies, and spring onions.

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

Easy Kung Pao Chicken recipe, made with delicious homemade spicy, sweet, savoury sauce. Learn how to make this famous Classic Sichuan Chinese stir fry at home with simple ingredients. Quick, easy, and incredibly delicious!
5 from 29 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American-Chinese, British Chinese, Chinese Cuisine
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chicken Marinade: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 379kcal
Author: Khin

Equipment

  • Large Wok Any large wok/pan/skillet

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 400 g Chicken breast About 14oz, Boneless chicken thigh/breast, cut into small dices
  • ½ Onion Cut small dices
  • 3 cloves Garlic Finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Ginger Finely chopped or grated
  • 3-4 Spring Onions Cut thin slices
  • 6-8 Dried chillies Dried Sichuan Chillies or any long red chillies, cut and deseeded.
  • 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns Crush/grind into fine coarse
  • 100 g Peanuts About 3.5 oz, Raw or Roasted unsalted peanuts
  • 2-3 tbsp Peanut oil Or vegetable, sunflower or canola oil

Chicken Marinade

  • 2 tsp Light soy sauce Or regular all-purpose soy sauce
  • ½ tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Corn starch Or potato starch

Kung Pao Sauce

  • 1 tbsp Light soy sauce Or regular soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine Chinese cooking rice wine or rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
  • 2 tsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Sesame oil
  • ½ tsp Corn starch Or potato starch
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • First cut the chicken into small same-size cubes and marinate with soy sauce, baking soda, sugar, and corn starch. Let it marinade for at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Prepare the kung pao sauce by whisking all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
  • Roast the raw peanuts in low-heat pan with a drizzle of oil until crispy. Once the peanuts start getting brown, remove from heat and set it aside. ( You can skip this step if you use ready roasted peanuts. )
  • Heat the large wok/pan over medium-high heat, drizzle 1 tbsp of oil and stir fry the chicken pieces for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Then remove from pan and set it aside.
  • In the remaining pan, add a bit more oil if needed. Stir fry the onions with medium-high heat for a few seconds. Follow with dried chillies, garlic, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns. Cook for a few seconds until the garlic is slightly brown.
  • Next, place the cooked chicken back in the wok and pour the sauce mixture in. Cook until the sauce is thick and glossy.
  • Now, add the roasted peanuts and chopped spring onions. Combine everything evenly.
  • Turn off the heat and transfer to serving plate. Serve with plain rice or noodles.

Notes

  • Sichuan(Szechuan) Peppercorns - is the key spice in this cuisine, it has a uniquely fragrant and buzzy numbing sensation. There is not exactly the same substitute for Sichuan peppercorns but if you don't like the flavor, you can add a dash of freshly ground black pepper. 
  • Dry chilies - Use any dried long red chilies if you cannot get Sichuan chili peppers. Dry chilies can be added in whole or cut and deseeded. You can omit dry chillies or add more to your taste. 
  • Peanuts - If you use ready roasted peanuts use the unsalted ones as the stir fry sauce contains salt contents. 
 
Nutritional information is calculated approximately and can be varied by the number of factors. 

Nutrition

Calories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 927mg | Potassium: 686mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 333IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2mg
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