Kung Pao Chicken – A Beautiful Mess

I am on a quest this year to learn to make many of our favorite take out meals at home and this Kung Pao Chicken recipe hits the spot! This savory and spicy dish is full of flavor, easy to make and pretty healthy. This is seriously one of my favorite meals to make now—a family favorite!

Kung Pao Ji Ding, the original name, means Kung Pao diced chicken as the dish is made up of diced chicken, peanuts and chili peppers. I like to add bell pepper and serve with steamed rice. The traditional Chinese dish was created by Ding Baozhen who held the title of Kung Pao in the late Qing Dynasty. This version may have a few ingredients you need to seek out but it’s super easy for any home cook to make.

Related: Next up try our cashew chicken or orange chicken recipes.

Ingredients

• Chicken
• Cooking oil – canola, peanut or olive
• Bell pepper
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Dried red chilies
• Sichuan peppercorn powder
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Chinese cooking wine
• Chinese black vinegar
• Brown sugar
• Cornstarch
• Water
• Sesame oil
• Peanuts
• Green onions – or scallions

How to make Kung Pao Chicken

First cut up the bell pepper, removing the stem and interior seeds. Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the dried chilies in half and remove the seeds. Dice the chicken.

In a large skillet or wok heat the cooking oil and stir fry the bell pepper, garlic, ginger and dried chili pieces. for 2 minutes on medium / high heat. Remove to a bowl.

In the same skillet add a little more oil and cook the chicken until all pieces go from pink to white and the meat is cooked through. Use a meat thermometer to check the interior temperature reaches 160°F.

While the chicken is cooking make the sauce. First whisk together the water and cornstarch. Then stir in the sichuan peppercorn powder, soy sauces, cooking wine, vinegar and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the vegetable mixture back into the pan. Drizzle on the sesame oil and cook together for a couple minutes until everything is hot. Then pour in the sauce as well as the peanuts and stir so everything gets coated. The sauce will begin to thicken up quickly. Turn the heat off and toss in the green onions. Serve warm on it’s own or with some steamed rice.

Tips and Substitutions

• I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe most often. Other cuts of chicken will also work, but you want something you can easily cut into small cubes or pieces.
• Sichuan peppercorn powder is available online if you can’t find it in stores. You can also use whole peppercorns and crush them. I go fairly light with it in this recipe. If you want more spice, use more. If you aren’t sure stick to what I have listed here and you can always add more next time you make this.
• Sichuan pepper has a numbing effect which is pretty unique so there isn’t a great substitute if you can’t find this ingredient. I would use red pepper flakes instead to add spice, but it’s not quite the same thing although will still create a tasty dish.
• You can substitute Chinese cooking wine for Mirin or a dry cooking sherry if needed.
• Balsamic vinegar can be substituted for Chinese black vinegar in this recipe if needed.
• You can add more vegetables to this dish beyond the red bell pepper I use. Other additions could include broccoli, cabbage or mushrooms.

More Chinese and Asian Fusion Recipes

P.S. If you love Chinese and Asian-fusion recipes one cookbook I love is 168 Better Than Takeout Chinese Recipes by Mandy Fu.