Easy Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

Chicken Marinade 

This marinade adds extra flavor to the chicken! Using a combination of baking soda and cornstarch is known as “velveting” and helps protect the chicken’s moisture from the high heat. The marinade also helps to add a protective coating to seal extra moisture into the chicken, and helps the chicken get a beautiful golden edge without overcooking.

• Chicken Breasts – use fresh, good quality boneless skinless breasts. Cut them into even 1-inch pieces of uniform size 
• Shaoxing Wine – this is a Chinese rice wine with a dark amber color. You can also substitute it with a dry sherry if you can’t find it, but don’t substitute with a clear rice wine or rice wine vinegar – it is not the same thing.
• Soy Sauce – you can use tamari sauce, too!
• Baking Soda – helps to tenderize the chicken
• Cornstarch – helps to create a base for the sauce to stick to

Kung Pao Chicken Sauce

• Soy sauce (or tamari)
• Rice wine vinegar
• Shaoxing wine
• Brown sugar
• Cornstarch
• Hoisin sauce

In this version, I have included plenty of crisp and colorful vegetables, and traded out some of the spicy chiles for milder bell peppers. Adding flavorful aromatics of ginger, garlic, and onion help deepen the flavors and make a lovely sauce.

• Red and green bell peppers and celery
• Fresh minced Garlic and Ginger and green onions
• Szechuan peppercorns – These can bring the heat and add a fun mouth tingly effect that Kung Pao is known for! You can find it in both whole and ground forms. Start with using only 1 teaspoon, and then you can gradually increase to what your family’s palate enjoys (up to 1 Tablespoon ground).
• Roasted unsalted peanuts

Marinate the chicken

The chicken gets a quick marinade of cornstarch, baking soda, and Chinese wine. We add in soy sauce and sesame oil for extra flavor. Because the chicken is cut into small pieces, it only needs about 10 minutes to marinade. 

Mix the sauce and Prep the veggies.

Getting the sauce ready before you start cooking is key. Stir frys go fast, so mix up your sauce now. Once it starts to cook it will turn into a beautiful silky sauce that perfectly coats each piece of chicken. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the broth, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, shaoxing wine, brown sugar, hoisin sauce and cornstarch.

Chop the bell peppers and celery into a medium dice, ensuring that the pieces are as even as possible. 

Mince the garlic, and ginger, and chop the green onions into thin slices.

If you are using whole szechuan peppercorns, you will want to grind them into a powder with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. 

Stir Fry

You can use either a wok or a large pan heated over medium-high heat. You want to make sure the pan and the oil are both hot and ready before you add the chicken, that way they cook quickly and develop that perfect golden crust. 

For this recipe we are using vegetable oil to stir-fry in, not olive oil. We need an oil with a high smoke point so it can get super nice and hot for cooking the chicken in. Olive oil won’t cut it here, so don’t use it. 

Let the chicken sit for 2 minutes to crisp up before you stir the pieces. Allow the chicken to sit for another 2 minutes to cook on the other side. 

Add in the veggies and saute until they begin to soften. You don’t want them to be super soft, you still want them to have some crunch on them. 

Then add in the garlic, ginger, green onions, peanuts, and dried chiles and saute just a few seconds, until you start to smell them.

Pour in the sauce and let the chicken and sauce simmer together. The heat will help to thicken the sauce, and it should only take a minute to reduce the liquid to make a gorgeous sauce that sticks to the chicken.

Serve

Ladle each serving onto a plate! Serve with white or brown rice on the side.

Using Whole Dried Red Chili Peppers

Using whole dried red chili peppers gives Kung Pao Chicken that signature heat and look. You can find them in any Asian or Latin speciality market or grocery. The trick to using these is how you prepare them! 

• If you use them whole, they won’t add any additional heat to the sauce but add a nice smoky aroma to the dish. 
• If you split them open and remove the seeds, it adds a mild heat level to the dish.
• If you split the chiles open and leave the seeds, it adds a serious kick! 

If you are hesitant to use these with your kids, you can substitute them with some dried red pepper flakes, just sprinkle them on top of each dish that you want during serving.

If you liked this dish, you might also like these recipes:

• Chicken Tikka Masala
• White Bean Chicken Chili
• Chicken Shwarma