Kung pao chicken
30 min · 41 g protein · 442 cals / serving
Juicy cubes of chicken velveted in a little soy and cornstarch, flash-fried with toasted dried chilies, garlic and ginger, then tossed in a glossy sweet, sour and savoury sauce. Crunchy celery, red pepper and zucchini bulk it out the way the takeout version does, and a handful of roasted peanuts and scallions goes in at the end for crunch. Faster than delivery and better.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2/3 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) cubes
- 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce, for the chicken
- 1 tbsp cornstarch, for the chicken
Sauce
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar, or Chinkiang black vinegar
- 2 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp canola oil, divided
- 8–10 whole dried chili peppers, snipped in half, seeds shaken out
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tsp ginger, minced
- 2 stalks celery, in 1 cm (1/2-inch) pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) pieces
- 2 large zucchini, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) pieces
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, or ground Sichuan pepper
- 3 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts
- 5 green onions, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) lengths
Steps
- Put the rice and water in a small pot with a pinch of salt, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it covered.
- Toss the chicken with the 2 tsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp cornstarch and leave it while you chop the vegetables.
- Stir the sauce ingredients together in a cup until the cornstarch dissolves.
- Heat half the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken in one layer, sear 2 minutes without moving it, then stir-fry 2–3 minutes more, until golden and cooked through (165°F). Tip it onto a plate.
- Add the remaining oil and the dried chilies and stir for 20–30 seconds, until they darken and smell toasty (do not let them blacken). Add the garlic and ginger for 15 seconds, then the celery, pepper, zucchini and black pepper, and stir-fry 3 minutes until crisp-tender and blistered.
- Return the chicken, stir the sauce again and pour it in. Toss for about 1 minute, until it bubbles and turns glossy and coats everything. Turn off the heat, toss in the peanuts and scallions and serve over the rice.
Good to know
What makes it taste like a restaurant's?
Sichuan peppercorns, which give the tingling that kung pao is known for. Toast 1 tsp in a dry pan, crush it and use it in place of the black pepper. Chinkiang black vinegar in the sauce adds a deeper, malty sourness.
Do I eat the dried chilies?
Most people push them aside; they are there to flavour the oil. Snipping them open makes the dish hotter, leaving them whole keeps it mild.
Peanut allergy?
Toasted cashews are the common swap, at about the same score, or leave the nuts out and add a handful of water chestnuts for crunch.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 107
- Protein
- (39%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (23%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (38%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 166 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1769 kcal goes into the pot and 1969 g of ingredients comes out as about 1650 g of food: 107 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.