| Chinese name: 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng)
Style: Sichuan(Szechuan) Cuisine
Characteristic: the chicken tastes tender and smooth, while the lettuce crisp and refreshing. It can be made either spicy or mild according to how much pimientos and chilli sauce are added, but both have unique flavors.
Popular both at home and abroad, kung pao chicken (fried diced chicken with chili sauce and peanuts) is a traditional dish of Sichuan Cuisine, mainly made of diced chicken, peanuts and lettuce. Kung pao chicken is not only a delicious dish, but it also has medical and health preserving properties, including nourishing the marrow and replenishing the essence, promoting mental health and prolonging the life and preventing hypertension and heart disease. |  |
| Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 250 g each;
1 cup peanuts;
1lettuce,100 g;
1 carrot, 50 g;
1 small ginger, 5 g
2 green onions, 5 g (spring onions, scallions) |  |
| Seasonings:
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon pepper powder
2 teaspoons prickly ash seeds
1 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoon sauce
2 teaspoons chili sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese cooking wine
2 teaspoons starch
8 dried pimientos sections
2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorn, optional
1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate
Note: the amount of the seasonings listed above can be appropriately increased or reduced according to one's personal taste. |  |
| Preparation Work:
A. Peel the lettuce with a peeling knife, cut the chicken, lettuce and carrot into diced pieces and cut the shallot and ginger into chopped pieces.
B. Put the diced chicken into a bowl and process it: add in salt, pepper powder, cooking wine, monosodium glutamate, chicken extract, egg white, vinegar, starch and oil, and stir well in the same direction until you feel it is a bit sticky with chopsticks.
C. You have to get ready for the wet starch flour mixed with salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate and pepper powder. |  |
Steps of Making Kung Pao Chicken
|  Step 1: Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil, swirling to coat sides. Add in the prickly ash seeds to be fried by big fire for 10 seconds and pick them out of the wok through a colander. Next, pour in the chopped ginger and shallot, dried pimientos sections and the chili sauce, stir fry the seasonings until fragrant, about 20 seconds.
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| Step 3: Pour in the diced carrot and lettuce and continue stirring for 1 minute by big fire, pour in the wet starch flour and stir all the materials in the wok until they are mixed for about 1 minute. |
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| Step 4: After the wet starch is nearly dry up in the wok (about a minute after poured in), pour in the fried peanuts, turn into small fire, and stir it together with the others for about 20 seconds. |
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| Step 5: Now, turn off the fire, find a fine porcelain plate, the delicious kung pao chicken can be picked out of the wok. |
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| This is your masterpiece, good in color, smell, taste and appearance. |
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Story about Kung Pao ChickenLegend among the Chinese folk has it that Ding Baozhen of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) loved eating dishes made of chili, pork and chicken. He was a jinshi (third-degree scholar) in the beginning and was assigned as the provincial governor of Shandong Province and later the governor-general of Sichuan Province later. It's said that he often let his cook make diced chicken with soy sauce when he was in Shandong, but the dish was not popular then. After transferring to Sichuan, he often ordered his cook to make the dish with peanuts, chili and young chicken to treat his guests. Gradually, more and more people fell in love with the delicious dish. Thereafter, he was created 'Tai Zi Shao Bao' (junior guardian of the prince) and was also dubbed as 'Ding Gong Bao' (palace guardian). Thus, the diced chicken his cook cooked was named kung pao chicken.
The other legend said that kung pao chicken originated from Zuo Zongtang, another provincial governor of the Qing Dynasty, who also liked to eat diced chicken matched with peanuts and lettuce. While in the Qing Dynasty, provincial governor was also named 'Gong Bao' or 'Shao Bao', so the dish he loved was given the mane kung pao chicken.
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Q & A on Kung Pao Chicken
1.
Sep. 13,2009 10:07 Reply
Ms.BECKYLEE(China) said:
hot pot is my favorite
Oct. 11,2009 04:18
Mr.Zhang(China) replied:
hot pot is not hard to cook actually.
2.
Aug. 25,2009 14:49 Reply
Mr.WESTNORWOODGAS(United Kingdom) said:
I will have to give a try.
Alan
Aug. 25,2009 22:08
Mr.Dartagnan(france) replied:
Dear sir, I'm sure you will be never tired of eating it.
3.
Aug. 24,2009 02:14 Reply
Mrs.kate(USA) said:
It looks delicious! I'll have a try tonight.
Aug. 25,2009 22:06
Mr.Dante(Italy) replied:
Yes, it is very delicious. I ate it almost every trip to China.