Kung Pao Chicken (Gungbo-gyejeong)
Kung Pao Chicken is a Sichuan classic: crispy fried chicken tossed quickly with dried chilies, cashews, and a spicy doubanjiang sauce. The balance of sweet, savory, and spicy makes it perfect over rice or as a snack with drinks.
Ingredients
Main
- Chicken250g
- Cucumber1/4
- Cashews30g
- Dried red chilies10 pieces
- Garlic cloves2
- Green onion2 stalks
- GingerA little
- Canned peach2 cloves
- Chili oil3 tbsp
- Sesame oil1 tbsp
Chicken Marinade
- Milk5 tbsp
- Cooking rice wine1 tbsp
- Soy sauce1 tbsp
- Starch5 tbsp
- Egg whites1 tbsp
Sauce
- Soy sauce1 tbsp
- Sugar1 tbsp
- Doubanjiang (chili bean paste)1 tbsp
- Oyster sauce1 tbsp
- Starch slurry1 tbsp
- Water3 tbsp
Directions
- 1
Cut the chicken into 1.5 cm cubes, season with milk, cooking rice wine, and soy sauce, then toss in the egg whites and starch until evenly coated.
- 2
In a bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, doubanjiang, oyster sauce, starch slurry, and water to make the sauce.
- 3
Cut the cucumber into bite-sized pieces and cut the canned peach into bite-sized pieces too.
- 4
Thinly slice the garlic and green onion, and finely mince the ginger.
- 5
Pour plenty of oil into a pan and deep-fry the marinated chicken twice until crispy outside and juicy inside.
- 6
Heat chili oil in a pan and add the dried chilies, garlic, green onion, ginger, cucumber, peach, cashews, fried chicken, sauce, and sesame oil in that order, stir-frying quickly over high heat to finish.
Tips
Frying the chicken twice makes the outside extra crispy. Adjust the heat with the number of dried chilies, and you can swap the cashews for peanuts if you prefer.