Kung Pao Chicken
Many years ago the mister and I would often go to PF Chang’s and get Kung Pao chicken. It used to be a favorite, but over the years PFC’s food has seemed to go downhill and we haven’t been back in many years. One night I decided to come up with a version of Kung Pao Chicken that we both liked and that was fairly simple to throw together on a weeknight. I’m not claiming this is “authentic” or even a copy of PF Chang’s … I made this multiple times before I settled on this recipe – and it’s really tasty and easy to make.
This Kung Pao Chicken is one of the easiest recipes to whip up on a weeknight for a delicious and easy dinner. The chicken is beautifully velvety and tender with tender veggies and the sauce is spicy and flavorful. The sauce can be spicy hot or you can easily tame it down by adjusting the chiles.
Marinating the chicken makes this chicken amazing and velvety smooth and so so so tender! Don’t skip the marinade with the cornstarch and Mirin/Saoxing wine. Something magical happens when you marinate meat this way.
What you need to make this wonderful chicken:
- Chicken breast or thighs
- Dark + light Soy Sauces
- Chicken broth
- Sesame oil + Neutral cooking oil
- Cornstarch
- Chile oil
- Black pepper + Kosher salt
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Mirin or Saoxing wine
- Red bell pepper
- White + Green onions
- Peanuts
- Carrots (optional)
- Tien Tsin dried chiles or red chile pepper flakes
Start by combining your sauce ingredients in a bowl (~2 cup size) and set aside.
Combine the chicken, cornstarch, and Mirin – or – Saoxing wine, salt and pepper in a bowl,stir to combine. Pop in the fridge and marinate for a min 30 minutes. For a little more flavor feel free to add a splash of dark soy to the marinade. (This is optional.)
In a large wok or pan, toast the peanuts until desired toastiness. Set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil to a hot wok/pan and heat a few moments, then add the chicken, being careful to not add the liquid from it to the pan. Cook the chicken until done and lightly browned. You may need to do it in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Remove from the pan and set aside in a clean bowl.
Add a few teaspoons of cooking oil to the hot wok/pan, add bell peppers and onions and stir fry until desired tenderness. *Optional – cook the carrots with the peppers and onions, if desired.
Once the veggies are your desired tenderness add garlic and saute a few minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic. Add chile pepper pods and give a good stir.
Add the cooked chicken to the pan and give it a good stir to combine everything. Add in the sauce and stir well. The sauce will thicken a bit as it cooks. But if you want it thicker feel free to mix 1 Tbs of reserved sauce with 2 tsp cornstarch and drizzle over the pan and stir to combine. Cook until desired thickness. Add in a good handful (about½ C) green onions and however many toasted peanuts you desire and stir.
Garnish with more chopped green onions and peanuts. Serve over steamed rice.
VARIATIONS
Peppers, onions, and peanuts are pretty traditional in Kung Pao chicken, but you can add carrots or other veggies to beef up the dish. I’ve also used cashews because they are a favorite of ours and we almost always have them on hand.
Carrots – I made a version of this with carrots… It was absolutely delicious! This version was also made with red chile pepper flakes for the heat.
Cashews – Here is a version with cashews because that’s what I had on hand that night.
Erin’s Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- 3 Tbs Dark soy sauce see notes
- 4 Tbs Light soy sauce
- 3 Tbs Chicken broth
- 1 Tbs Ginger grated
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1 tsp Chile oil see notes
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
Chicken + Marinade
- 1.5 lbs Chicken breast or boneless thighs Cut in 1.5" x 1/2" pieces
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 Tbs Mirin – or – Saoxing Wine see notes
- 1 Tbs Regular Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbs Cornstarch
Other
- 4 ea Green onions sliced in 1/2" pieces
- 10 ea Tien Tsin dried chiles see notes
- 1 ea Red bell pepper cut into 3/4" squares
- 1 medium White onion cut into 3/4" squares
- 4 large Garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 – 1 C peanuts
- Neutral cooking oil
- 2 tsp Cornstarch, as needed for thickening sauce * Optional
- 1 – 2 Carrots, peeled and coined then cut in half * Optional
Instructions
- Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Combine the chicken, cornstarch, and Mirin – or – Saoxing wine, salt and pepper in a bowl,stir to combine. Pop in the fridge and marinate for a min 30 minutes. You can also add a splash of dark soy to the marinade for more flavor if you desire.
- In a large wok or pan, toast the peanuts until desired toastiness. Set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil to a hot wok/pan and heat a few moments, then add the chicken, being careful to not add the liquid from it to the pan. Cook the chicken until done and lightly browned. You may need to do it in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Remove from the pan and set aside in a clean bowl.
- Add a few teaspoons of cooking oil to the hot wok/pan, add bell peppers and onions and stir fry until desired tenderness. Add garlic and saute a few minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic. Add chile pepper pods and give a good stir.*Optional – cook the carrots with the peppers and onions, if desired.
- Add the cooked chicken to the pan and give it a good stir to combine everything. Add in the sauce and stir well. The sauce will thicken a bit as it cooks. But if you want it thicker feel free to mix 1 Tbs of reserved sauce with 2 tsp cornstarch and drizzle over the pan and stir to combine. Cook until desired thickness. Add in a good handful (about½ C) green onions and however many toasted peanuts you desire and stir.
- Garnish with more chopped green onions and peanuts. Serve over steamed rice.
Notes
– put 1/2 Cup of sesame oil in a pan, bring to a simmer, add 2-3 Tbs red chile pepper flakes to the oil and cook for a couple minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool. Pour into a pint size jar and store in the refrigerator. You can thicken the sauce if you would like by mixing 1 tbs of the reserved sauce with 2 tsp cornstarch and drizzle it over the pan and cook until desired thickness. If your wok/pan is on the smaller side you may need to cook the chicken in a couple of batches. Variations:
Peppers, onions, and peanuts are pretty traditional in Kung Pao chicken, but you can add carrots or other veggies to beef up the dish. I’ve also used cashews because they are a favorite of ours and we almost always have them on hand. Specialty Ingredients: Lee Kum Kee Dark Soy Sauce. This is our favorite dark soy sauce. It is thick and rich and makes a luxurious sauce. Tien Tsin Chiles good and spicy – you can also sub Chile de Arbol but they won’t be as hot. You can also use a plethora (~1 tsp red chile pepper flakes) if you don’t have either of the chiles. Saoxing Wine a cooking wine that can be either red or yellow and is produced in Saoxing, China. You can also sub Mirin, dry sherry, or cooking sake if you can’t find Saoxing wine. Mirin We go through about 3 of these in a year. We often use it in place of rice vinegar.