Chinese · Lunch or dinner

Kung Pao Chicken

Velveted chicken, dried chiles, Sichuan peppercorn and peanuts.

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Kung Pao Chicken, plated, photographed from above.
Prep
20 min
Cook
10 min
Makes
4 servings
Skill
Comfortable
Heat
Medium, adjustable
Contains peanuts Contains tree nuts Contains soy Contains gluten Contains sesame
Maui says

Sichuan peppercorns give you that lip-tingling málà numbness - buy them fresh (within the last year) or they're just woody specks. Toast and grind a tablespoon at a time, keep in a jar.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 4 servings.

  • 1¼ lbboneless skinless chicken thighscut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 tbspcornstarch
  • 2 tbspShaoxing wine
  • 2 tbspsoy sauce
  • 1 tspdark soy sauce
  • 1 tbspblack vinegar (Chinkiang)
  • 1 tspsugar
  • 1 tsptoasted sesame oil
  • 2 tbspneutral oil (peanut or canola)
  • 8dried red chiles (Tianjin or arbol)snipped into halves, seeds shaken out for less heat
  • 1 tspSichuan peppercorns
  • 4garlic clovesminced
  • 1 tbspfresh gingerminced
  • 4scallionswhite and green parts separated, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • ½ cuproasted unsalted peanuts

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 480calories
  • 32gprotein
  • 22gcarbs
  • 28gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Cube chicken into 3/4-inch pieces; toss with cornstarch and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Let sit 10 min.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp soy sauce, dark soy, black vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and 2 tbsp water. This is your sauce.
  3. Mince garlic and ginger. Cut scallions, separating whites from greens. Snip dried chiles in half.
1

Bloom aromatics

Heat neutral oil in wok over medium-high. Add dried chiles and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry 30 seconds until chiles darken slightly and your kitchen smells like a Sichuan restaurant - don't let them burn black.

1 min · hands on
2

Sear chicken

Crank heat to high. Add the marinated chicken in a single layer. Don't move it for 1 minute, then stir-fry 2 minutes more until golden and cooked through.

3 min · hands on
3

Add aromatics

Add garlic, ginger, and scallion whites. Stir-fry 30 seconds until fragrant - keep things moving so the garlic doesn't burn.

1 min · hands on
4

Sauce

Pour in the sauce mixture and toss everything together for 30-60 seconds - it should glaze the chicken in a glossy coat. Stir in peanuts and scallion greens and toss one more time.

1 min · hands on
5

Serve

Tip onto plates over rice. Heads up - the dried chiles and whole peppercorns are flavor, not snacks. Eat around them.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of chicken thighs Chicken breast

Velvet the same way; stir-fry 2 min instead of 3 - breast goes dry fast. Saves about 2 minutes.

Instead of chicken thighs Extra-firm tofu

Press tofu 10 min, cube, toss in cornstarch; sear hard before saucing. Adds about 5 minutes.

Instead of chicken thighs Shrimp

Skip the velvet marinate; cook 2 min total at the end, just until pink. Saves about 3 minutes.

Instead of steamed jasmine rice Brown rice

Start brown rice before prep - it needs 40 min. Adds about 25 minutes.

What keeps

Reheats well in a hot skillet (3-4 min) - microwaving turns the peanuts soggy. If meal-prepping, store the peanuts separately and add when you reheat so they stay crunchy.

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