Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients

• Chicken thigh (or breast) · 2cm cubes300 g
• Roasted peanuts60 g
• Dried red chilies · snipped8
• Green onion · 2cm pieces1
• Garlic · sliced3 cloves
• Ginger · minced1 tsp
• Sichuan peppercorns · optional, for mala1 tsp
• Cooking oil2 tbsp
• Chicken marinade
• Soy sauce1 tbsp
• Shaoxing wine (or mirin)1 tbsp
• Cornstarch1 tbsp
• Sauce
• Soy sauce1.5 tbsp
• Black vinegar (or vinegar)1 tbsp
• Sugar1 tbsp
• Cornstarch1 tsp
• Water3 tbsp

Steps

1. Cube the chicken and toss with the marinade (soy, wine, cornstarch); rest 10 minutes.

   ⏲ 10 min

2. Stir all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl (sugar, vinegar, soy, cornstarch, water).

   ⏲ 1 min

3. Heat a wok or pan over high heat with oil, spread in the chicken, and stir-fry until golden, then push to one side or remove.

   ⏲ 4 min

4. In the same pan, fry the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns over low heat 30 seconds until fragrant (don't burn them or they turn bitter).

   ⏲ 30 sec

5. Add the garlic, ginger, and green onion, then return the chicken and stir-fry over high heat.

   ⏲ 1 min 30 sec

6. Pour in the sauce and toss quickly until glossy and coated, turn off the heat, and stir in the peanuts. Serve with rice.

   ⏲ 1 min 30 sec

Tips & Variations

The basics behind this dish

• Browning and the Maillard ReactionMeat fails to brown for one of three reasons: it is wet, the pan is cool, or you put too much in at once. Plus how the brown film stuck to the pan becomes your sauce.
• Cooking Meat: Temperature, Resting, and Cutting Against the GrainDoneness is a core temperature, not a number of minutes. What resting actually does, how to handle a thick cut, and why the direction you slice changes the texture.
• Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.