One of our favorite Chinese dishes to order is Kung Pao Chicken. We love the spicy chicken and peanuts over fried rice. It doesn’t take long for me to begin to wonder if I can make a version of this dish at home so we can eat it any time we want. Well, this is the result.

I believe there is a bit of flexibility with the recipe and that you can tweak it to your particular tastes but hopefully you’ll appreciate this dish as much as we do. I add a little more chili paste and cayenne peppers to my dish once I plate it up; so my wife doesn’t have to struggle with a dish that is too spicy for her.

Ingredients

1 Lb Chicken, skinless, boneless, cut into ½” pieces

1½ TBLS Red wine

2 TBLS Soy Sauce

1½ TBLS Sesame oil

2 TBLS Cornstarch

2 TBLS Water

1 oz Chile Paste

1 tsp Rice vinegar¹

1 TBLS Garlic, minced

1½ TBLS Brown sugar

3 oz Green onion, chopped

3 - 4 oz Peanuts²

Optional

8 oz can Water chestnuts

½ oz Cayenne pepper flakes

¹ You can substitute distilled vinegar for the rice wine vinegar.

² Substitute your favorite nut for the peanuts such as cashews or almonds.

Instructions

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water.

Marinade the Chicken

In a bowl, combine ¾ TBLS red wine, 1 TBLS soy sauce, ¾ TBLS sesame oil and 1 TBLS cornstarch/water mixture and mix well. Place the chicken pieces in the marinade and stir to glaze all of the chicken with the marinade. Cover, place in the refrigerator for 30 – 60 minutes. This can be done in a zip-lock baggie instead of a bowl.

Make the Sauce

In a small bowl, combine ¾ TBLS red wine, 1 TBLS soy sauce, ¾ TBLS sesame oil, 1 TBLS cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar, garlic and brown sugar. Mix ingredients well and then stir in the green onions and peanuts. Place this into a skillet over medium low heat and heat the sauce until it bubbles slightly around the edges.

Making this Kung Pao

Remove the chicken from the marinade. Place the chicken in a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Sauté until the meat turns white. When the sauces begins to bubble around the edges add the chicken to the sauce and allow it to cook slowly over medium low heat until the sauce thickens.

Serve over fried rice.

For a fried rice recipe, click here.

Yield

Serves: 4

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