Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁

Overview

Chinese Name: 宫保鸡丁
English Name: Gong Bao Chicken; Kung Pow Chicken; Sautéed Diced Chicken with Peanuts and Chili
Category: Shandong Cuisine鲁菜; Sichuan Cuisine川菜; Guizhou Cuisine贵州菜
Main Ingredients: Chicken breast，Peanut

Kung Pao chicken宫保鸡丁 is a famous Chinese and foreign characteristic traditional dish. It is included in Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Guizhou cuisine, but its raw materials and methods are different. In July 2021, kung pao chicken was selected into the candidate list of provincial Tianfu tourism cuisine in Sichuan Province四川省省级天府旅游美食候选名单.

The origin of this dish is related to the Fried Diced Chicken with Soy Sauce酱爆鸡丁 in Shandong cuisine and the Diced Chicken with Chili胡辣子鸡丁 in Guizhou cuisine. Later, it was improved and carried forward by Ding Baozhen丁宝桢, governor of Shandong and governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty清朝, forming a new dish – Gongbao diced chicken. After spreading, this dish was also summarized as a palace dish and spread abroad.

Although the names of Kung Pao chicken are the same, the practices are different:

The Guizhou version of kung pao chicken uses Ciba chili糍粑辣椒, which is different from the Sichuan and Shandong versions. The Guizhou version of kung pao chicken is salty and spicy, slightly sour and sweet. Sour and hot is one of the important symbols of Guizhou cuisine.

The Sichuan version of Kung Pao chicken uses preserved chicken meat. Because the preserved chicken meat is not easy to taste, the fried chicken is easy to be tender and slippery, so you need to beat the chicken with the back of the knife or add some egg white to make the chicken more tender and smooth. The raw materials of Kung Pao chicken in the Sichuan cuisine version must include crispy peanuts油酥花生米 and dry pepper festival干辣椒节. The pepper festival is fried and fragrant, which can highlight the spicy flavor of the paste.

The Kung Pao chicken of Shandong cuisine version uses more chicken leg meat. In order to better highlight the taste of Gongbao chicken, Shandong cuisine also adds diced bamboo shoots or horseshoes. Kung Pao diced chicken is roughly the same as Sichuan cuisine, but it pays more attention to hot frying in order to keep the freshness of diced chicken.

How to make Kung Pao chicken?

Kung Pao chicken is characterized by sweet in spicy and spicy in sweet. The freshness and tenderness of chicken are matched with the crispness of peanuts. It is spicy and crisp in the mouth, and the meat is smooth and crisp. After Kung Pao chicken is imported, the tip of the tongue first feels slightly numb and lightly spicy, and then the taste buds are affected by a sweet taste. When chewing, it will feel “sour”. The diced chicken, scallion and peanuts wrapped with hemp, spicy, sour and sweet make people unable to stop.

Ingredients：

300g chicken breast
50g peanut meat
60g Scallion
A small piece of ginger
Moderate garlic
More than a dozen pepper
Several dried peppers
An appropriate amount of edible oil
Half egg white
A spoonful of cooking wine
A proper amount of corn starch
A spoonful of salt
Four spoonfuls of sugar
Three tablespoons vinegar
Two spoonfuls of soy sauce
A spoonful of chicken essence
A few drops of sesame oil

Instruction:

Step 1, Soak peanuts in boiling water for ten minutes to facilitate peeling.
Step 2, Pat the chicken breast loosely with the back of the knife, and then cut into pieces for standby; Peanut kernel peeled; Cut scallion into segments; Remove the seeds and cut the dried pepper into small pieces; Chop bean paste; Cut ginger into small pieces; Chop garlic and set aside.
Step 3, Grasp the chicken breast with egg white, a spoonful of starch and cooking wine and marinate it for more than ten minutes.
Step 4, Put a little oil into the cold pot and then put the peanut kernel into the pot. Deep fry the peanuts over low heat until they are golden and remove.
Step 5, Mix sugar, salt, vinegar, soy sauce, chicken essence and corn starch into juice for standby.
Step 6, Heat the pot and then pour in an appropriate amount of edible oil. Then put the chicken into the pot and break it up quickly. When the chicken turns white, put it out and set it aside.
Step 7, Leave a little bottom oil in the pot. First, put pepper and dry pepper into the pot and stir fry them over low heat to get the flavor. Then pour bean paste and chili noodles into the pot and stir fry the red oil. Next, put ginger slices and minced garlic into the pot and stir fry them to get the flavor.
Step 8, Change to high fire, pour the diced chicken into the pot and stir fry evenly.
Step 9, Put the scallions into the pot and stir fry evenly.
Step 10, Pour the mixed juice into the pot and bring to a boil.
Step 11, Pour the peanuts into the pot.
Step 12, Stir fry evenly, pour a little sesame oil and then come it out of the pot.

Tips:

The peanuts should be brewed with boiling water and peeled. And the peanuts should be boiled in a cold pot with cold oil. Therefore, peanuts are not easy to fry.