Healthier Kung Pao Chicken, Professional Style

Glenn Emerson

Kung Pao Chicken is one of my favorite dishes. I have cooked both of Jing's recipes several times. I like the tenderness of the chicken in the professional style, and I like the flavor and vegetables in Jing's home recipe. However, one concern I have about the professional recipes is the use of oil to blanch to the protein. This preserves the flavor, and makes the protein very tender, but it adds extra fats from oils. While studying Irene Kuo's masterpiece The Key To Chinese Cooking I learned that she preferred to use water to blanch chicken for slippery coating or velveting.

This recipe has all the flavor and tenderness of the professional version with less fat, and adds the healthy vegetables from Jing's home recipe. This has the added advantage of extending the dish by yielding more servings. This is also less expensive (less oil), and feeds more people. Give it a try.

This dish is best served over rice. I use parboiled rice, but whole grain rice is also a good choice if you want a healthier alternative.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine

Servings

Calories 238 kcal

Equipment

1 wok
1 sharp kitchen knife
1 slotted spoon or spider web strainer
1 heat safe container for hot oil
1 spatula

Ingredients

1 chicken breast (1 lb or 500 g)
2 medium carrots
1 cucumber

Auxiliary ingredients:

2 scallions
6 slices fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
⅓ cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted and unsweetened)
5 xiao mi la (millet) chili peppers
10 Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground)
1 tbsp caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil) (or peanut oil)

Chicken marinade

1 tsp sugar, white (granulated)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp water

Seasonings in pan (adjust to taste)

½ tbsp sugar, white (granulated)
1 tsp Shaoxing wine (substitute white cooking wine)
2 tsp Pixian Doubanjiang bean paste
1 er jing tiao pepper, pickled
1 tsp Baoning vinegar (substitute white vinegar)
2 tsp light soy sauce
starch water 1:1 starch and water
4 oz water enough to cover bottom of pan

Instructions

Preparation:

Place the dried peppers in a small bowl and cover with hot water to soften.
5 xiao mi la (millet) chili peppers
Place a clean skillet on a burner over medium flame. Place the Sichuan peppercorns on the skill to toast them, stirring occasionally. Continue preparing the other ingredients while the peppercorns are toasting.
10 Sichuan peppercorns
When the peppercorns are darkened slightly (not burned), and just beginning to smoke, turn off the heat and transfer the peppercorns to a mortar and grind them to a powder.
Place the ground peppercorn powder on a plate.
Wash the chicken breast and green onions. Peel and wash the ginger, carrots and garlic. Wash the cucumber but do not peel.
Dice the chicken into cubes.
Place the chicken in a bowl. Add some sugar, dark soy sauce, and water and stir well. Then add starch and stir well to mix. Set aside.
1 tsp sugar, white (granulated), 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp corn starch, 1 tsp water
Chop the green onion, ginger and garlic. Remove the skin of the peanuts. Chop the pickled peppers and bean paste together.
1 er jing tiao pepper, pickled, 2 tsp Pixian Doubanjiang bean paste
Dice or roll-cut the carrots. Cut the cucumber lengthwise into quarters, then, holding each quarter vertically, slice downward with your kitchen knife to cut away the seeds from the flesh of the cucumber. Then chop the cucumbers into pieces about the thickness of two chopsticks.
Mix together the water, vinegar, light soy sauce and sugar. Whisk vigorously to dissolve the sugar.
½ tbsp sugar, white (granulated), 2 tsp light soy sauce, 4 oz water, 1 tsp Baoning vinegar
Remove the xiao mi la peppers from the soaking water, chop them (see note below), and place on the plate with the powdered Sichuan peppercorn.
5 xiao mi la (millet) chili peppers

Cooking:

Add enough water to a large saucepan to cover the chicken, and bring to a boil.
1 chicken breast
Blanch the chicken in the water until it changes color, then remove the chicken.
Put a bamboo steamer over the saucepan. Add the chopped carrots and cucumbers. Cover and steam the vegetables to blanch, about 2 minutes. The vegetables should still be crispy.
2 medium carrots, 1 cucumber
Place the vegetables on the plate with the chicken cubes.
Heat the wok until a droplet of water evaporates in 2 seconds. Add about a tablespoon (15 ml) cooking oil to the wok, then add the Sichuan peppercorns and chopped chili peppers. Stir-fry the peppers quickly until you smell the aroma and they are slightly darkened, about 15 to 30 seconds. Keep stirring and tossing so they do not scorch.
5 xiao mi la (millet) chili peppers, 10 Sichuan peppercorns, 1 tbsp caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil)
Next, add the ginger, garlic, Doubanjiang bean paste and pickled pepper mixture, and cooking wine. Stir-fry evenly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Keep the ingredients tossing constantly so they do not burn. Whisk the water and seasoning mixture to stir up any sugar that has settled, then add the mixture to the wok. Stir quickly to combine, until the water just starts to boil.
6 slices fresh ginger, 3 cloves garlic, ⅓ cup dry roasted peanuts, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, 2 tsp Pixian Doubanjiang bean paste, 1 er jing tiao pepper, pickled, 1 tsp Baoning vinegar, 2 tsp light soy sauce, 4 oz water, ½ tbsp sugar, white (granulated)
Add the diced chicken and vegetables, stir fry until the broth returns to a boil, then glaze (Daqian) with starch water. Add a little bit of starch water at a time while stirring constantly to combine until the broth is thickened just enough to evenly coat the ingredients. Finally, add a small amount of oil to brighten.
starch water
Turn off the flame. Add the peanuts and green onions.
⅓ cup dry roasted peanuts, 2 scallions
Off heat, stir to combine the peanuts and scallions with the chicken and vegetables, then transfer to a serving dish.

Notes

Adjust the amount of seasonings according to the amount of your ingredients. The taste of this dish should be savory and slightly sweet and sour.
When blanching the chicken, turn the chicken when the color changes slightly to avoid the chicken pieces from sticking together.
Pickled peppers and Doubanjiang bean paste are both salty, so please be sure to test the taste of this dish during the cooking process.
Chopping the chili peppers will give the dish a hotter spice. Leave the peppers intact if you prefer a more mild dish.
Soaking the chili peppers, and roasting the Sichuan peppercorns, are both optional.

Nutrition

Calories: 238kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 17gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 403mgPotassium: 581mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 5499IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg

Keyword blanching, oil, carrots, chicken breast, Chicken Recipes, cooking wine, cucumber, er jing tao chili pepper, pickled, fried peanuts, frying, stir-fry, garlic, ginger, Pixian doubanjiang, scallions, Sichuan peppercorn, soy sauce, dark, soy sauce, light, starch water, sugar, white, vinegar, xiao mi la chili peppers

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