Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

Kung Pao Chicken

When you talk about highly addictive food I would say kung pao chicken comes right on top of the list, this recipe is so addictive that once you have it you wanna name it after yourself and that is exactly what Chinese did when they came up with this recipe in early 19th century. They named it after late Qin Dynasty official who was a governor of Sichuan Province with the title Gongbao.

The recipe was originally called Gongbao and the chef who introduced this beauty was from the province called Sichuan in south-west china. This is how good the dish is they changed the name of the dish in Chinese cultural revolution under Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1980s, because it was associated with Qin.

The dish has been one of the popular Chinese dishes in western world with the changes which suited west, western dish basically includes marinated chicken dices with orange juice, ginger, garlic, chicken broth, sugar, cooking oil, corn starch, salt and pepper and the original recipe includes Sichuan peppercorns, chicken, peanuts, vegetables, and chili peppers, with the sauce made with wine, soy sauce, oil, cornstarch, chili paste, vinegar and sugar.

First time i had this was way back in 2008 and i loved it, today i made this Indian / Pakistani style and thought to myself if Chinese originated this and west changed it to their taste, why not give Indian / Pakistani touch to it. Because people from Indian subcontinent love their spices so we have decided to give you taste of this addictive Chinese dish and bring the memories of ancient china to your kitchen through kung pao chicken. If you like it please do use comment box below and do not forget to subscribe our site to get updates on daily bases.

Ingredients:

Chicken marination:

1: Chicken breast 1kg boneless (cut in ½ inch cubes)

2: Tandoori masala 1tbsp

3: Salt as per taste

4: Lemon juice 1tbsp

5: Cornstarch 1tbsp

6: Yogurt 1tbsp

7: Ginger & Garlic paste 1tsp

8: Turmeric powder 1tsp

Sauce:

1: Vinegar 1tbsp

2: Soy sauce 1tsp

3: Sesame oil 1tsp

4: Sugar 1tsp

5: Cornstarch 1tsp

6: Black pepper powder 1tsp

Ingredients:

7: Vegetable oil 2tbsp

8: Green or red chilies 12 (dried)

9: Spring onions 3 (thinly sliced)

10: Ginger & Garlic paste 1tbsp

11: Peanuts handful (unsalted dry-roasted peanuts)

Method:

In a medium bowl add tandoori masala, salt, lemon juice, cornstarch, yogurt, ginger and garlic paste and turmeric powder and mix well, add chicken cubes and marinate very well by using your hands (washed) till the chicken cubes have been marinated and well coated from all sides, set aside for 10 to 20 minutes.

In a separate bowl add vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch and black pepper mix well till sugar is dissolved set aside.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add the peanut oil and swirl to coat the base. 

Heat a wok or large skillet on high flame until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the base, add chilies and stir-fry till the chilies have just begun to blacken and the oil is slightly fragrant (You may need to turn on your stove's exhaust fan, because stir-frying dried chilies on high heat can get a little smoky), add the chicken and stir fry till chicken is cooked, add spring onion and garlic & ginger paste and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce and mix to coat the other ingredients. Stir in the peanuts and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. 

Serve hot

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