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Village Life in China Vlog – How to make the best Kung Pao Chicken recipe!
Full Kung Pao chicken recipe here:
Ingredients:
Free Sichuan Peppercorns:
The Kung Pao chicken recipe below is suitable for two adults to eat. You can order the ingredients here: (premium quality) and get a free bag of Sichuan peppercorns as well (using coupon code “ranger”), so you don’t have to worry about finding the harder to get Sichuan ingredients.
Ingredients:
These are the 5 small bowls you will end up with before frying:
1 bowl of raw peanuts, about 50 grams.
1 bowl chicken breast.
1 bowl mixed with 1 large Chinese leek (use the white/light part only) and 6-10 garlic cloves, both cut into bite-sized pieces.
1 bowl of dried large Sichuan chilies (about 10-20 depending on how spicy you like it) + one or two teaspoons red Sichuan peppercorn.
1 flavor bowl (see how to do it below in the flavoring part)
Marinade for Chicken:
1 chicken breast, about 250-300 grams, cut into cubes, chicken pieces small
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp MSG
1/3 tsp Chinese hujiaofen pepper powder
A touch of Laochou Chinese dark soy sauce for color
1 capful of Liaojiu Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine)
Mix this up, and then add a touch of cold water and mix until water is no longer showing on bottom of bowl, so the chicken absorbs all the water. It should feel juicy but not too wet. This is an important step in keeping the juiciness into the chicken when you fry it. Make sure it absorbs all the water. Aunt Yang likes to add an egg white instead.
After mixing water, add 2.5 teaspoons of wandoufen pea starch or potato starch or corn starch.
Add soybean oil to the bowl so it goes halfway up the chicken.
Marinate for about 10 minutes
How to make the Kung Pao Chicken sauce:
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp MSG
4 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp Hujiaofen Chinese pepper powder
Xiangcu Chinese black vinegar, pour it until it just barely saturates all your sugar and then add just a little more. This is to make it slightly more sour than sweet. That’s the way it’s done in Sichuan.
A touch of regular Chinese soy sauce.
1/2 tsp Wandoufen pea starch or potato starch, mix until the sauce thickens a bit
Step By Step How To Make Kung Pao Chicken
1. Fry the peanuts
Heat a wok over low heat and add a generous ladle of soybean oil or vegetable oil, enough so the peanuts will be covered.
Before the oil warms up, add the raw peanuts and fry them gently. Keep it at low temperature and low heat.
You will start to see some small bubbles forming in the oil. Wait until the skins of the peanuts start to come off and the inside turns slightly yellow and golden, emitting a fragrant aroma. This should take a few minutes.
When the peanuts are slightly golden, carefully pour them out of the wok and strain any excess oil. Set aside. This step is easy to overcook so if you burn them, it’s no big deal, just throw your peanuts out and try again with a new batch.
2. Fry the chicken 50%
Turn the heat to maximum and pour a large ladle of soybean oil or cooking oil into the pan, allowing it to heat until it begins to smoke.
Once it begins to smoke, remove the wok from the heat and carefully pour the hot oil back into the oil bowl.
Turn the heat OFF, and immediately return the hot wok back down and add two large ladles of oil.
The heat from the wok will instantly make the oil hot. Add marinated chicken to the wok and mix and spread around gently fry them until they are halfway cooked, which should take about 30-40 seconds.
Once the chicken is halfway cooked pour it out of the wok into a strainer and strain any excess oil back into your oil bowl. Set aside. This technique is essential for keeping the chicken nice and juicy so you can just put the chicken in near the end and finish the cooking and serve shortly after.
3. Final stiry fry.
Heat the wok over medium-high heat and add half a ladle of oil.
Add the garlic and chopped chinese leeks to the wok and fry until aromatic, You can fry until there is even a slight yellow char on the leeks.
Next, add the dried large Sichuan chilies and Sichuan peppercorns to the wok and continue to fry until aromatic. You can even wait until the chilies turn slightly yellow.
Maintain medium heat throughout this process.
Add half cooked chicken to the wok and stir-fry until completely cooked.
Then, add the prepared sauce to the wok. Before pouring it in, ensure the sauce is well mixed to prevent the sugar from sticking to the bottom of the bowl. You can also pour a little chicken and sauce from the wok into the sauce bowl to ensure all the sauce is transferred.
Here is where we increase the heat to max heat. Stir fry the chicken and sauce vigorously, usually for about 10 seconds.
Finally, add the fried peanuts to the wok, stir, toss, and serve immediately.
