Easy Kung Pao Chicken at Home

[Music] now when I want take out and I want something with a nice gentle kick kung pao chicken is usually at the top of my order it's just so good there's so much flavor in it marinated stir-fried chunks of chicken in a zesty sweet and sour sauce topped off with fried peanuts yeah I'm pretty sure this one's going into your dinner rotation pretty quick the best part about it you can make it at home it's that easy so we're gonna start off by prepping up our chicken sound good let's cook I've got about two pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts which brings me to about four total I want to cut these down into bite-sized pieces and in order to do so press down on the chicken breast with one hand while carefully slicing through it width-wise in the other hand this is just to make sure the chicken isn't moving while cutting it ensuring you're going to be safe doing it now slice them in half inch thick slices all the way down then what we're going to do is turn it 90 degrees and slice half inch thick more slices to give me beautiful half inch thick cubes we're going to place them to the side and a large bowl now this recipe does in fact classically use boneless skinless chicken breasts however you can still use thigh or drum meat just make sure it's completely deboned and the skin is removed all right let's marinate up this chicken we are going to add in one egg white so just Bobble that yolk between two shells add it right into the bowl with the chicken next thing we're going to add in is three tablespoons of soy sauce next three tablespoons of xiaoxing wine then two more tablespoons of corn starch this is going to make sure the marinade sticks together and it's going to get a nice little coating on our chicken when we cook it then generously season it with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper then using clean hands or a glove or even a spoon thoroughly mix it until it is completely coated on all sides then we're going to briefly set it to the side of the refrigerator also make sure to clean your cutting board it had raw chicken on it and then now to make our Kung Pao sauce we're going to add in a half cup of good chicken stock to a bowl I've got a great homemade recipe for you next three tablespoons of soy sauce then three tablespoons of xiaoxing wine now three tablespoons of black vinegar I realize this is going to be hard to find so just use regular white distilled vinegar that's a great substitute now three tablespoons of packed light brown sugar and two tablespoons of cornstarch that's going to make sure our sauce is nice and thick Now using a whisk mix it completely until combined and that cornstarch is whisked into the mixture then briefly set it to the side and it's completely okay if you do not have xiaoxing wine or don't even have access to it a few great substitutes are going to be dry sherry or mirin which is a sweetened Japanese cooking wine now if you do use Marin just back off the sugar that's in the sauce a little bit no problem all right let's prep up a few more things I've got about 2 3 cup or a nice handful size of dried Sichuan peppers these are mild you know me when I comes the spice I like a little bit and I like it comfortable I don't like it overly spicy we are going to cut these down into about half inch thick pieces we're also going to use the seeds so all of these are going to the side in a bowl then I have one teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns using a chef knife we are just going to finely mince these because if you get one big chunk in there it's going to be really overpowering set them to the side now I was able to snag some of these Sichuan peppercorns online and it's something that I'm going to use more often given my job if you purchase them they are dried the last several years if you store them properly however if you don't want to buy them no problem a great substitute for these are going to be one teaspoon of ground black pepper and then a half teaspoon of whole coriander seeds that are crushed up just like I did with those peppercorns all right a few more things to prep up I've got four garlic cloves we're just going to trim off the root end and then thinly slice it you could also finely grate this on a microplane or even just finely mince it using a chef knife now I've got a big block of fresh ginger we don't need all of it so I'm going to trim it down until it's about a one inch piece save the rest for another recipe then using a paring knife or a tornee knife just want to remove all of that rough peel on the outside and make sure to stay as closely to the ginger as possible so that we have plenty of This Ginger to use then slice it in half and then thinly slice it again just like we did our garlic and again you can finely grate this on a microplane or just mince it using a knife now I've got some green onions we are going to rinse them and then remove that root end now what we want to do is cut them into one inch pieces and you know that I always say it but having everything finished the Mison plus ready to go is so crucial in this recipe the last thing you want to do is stop and think about having to prep something in the middle of stir frying all will go wrong this is crucial make sure all the prep is done before we get into it just going to continue cutting these into about one inch pieces it does not need to be perfect in any way and now for some equipment I've got a large 12 to 14 inch seasoned Up Walk You could also use a very large frying pan if that's all you have a couple extra utensils I've got a long Ladle skimmer and spatula that I absolutely love to use for all my stir fries I grabbed them on Amazon but all you really do need is a long spoon now this dish was said to be created by a man named ding bausen sorry if I butchered that he was a governor of the Sichuan Providence in China and he later received the title of Gung Bao which is someone who protects the prince and literally translates to Palace Guardian now there are three different stories about how this dish came to be exactly one he was showing gratitude towards a family who helped him when he was drowning as a little boy and named it after them using their name the second one he was a great chef and he loved to cook and he created this dish the third one he had personal chefs and he told them preferential ingredients he wanted them to use and boom this dish was said to be whichever story is correct the word Gung Bao later turned into Kung Pao as we know it today all right the way you make this is by using the very simple procedure of stir frying let me show you how we do it first things first let's add that walk to the cooktop on high heat with three tablespoons of peanut oil then I'm going to add in a half cup of unsalted peanuts now this part is optional I think by doing this it adds more flavor so once that oil is smoking those peanuts are in there and we're going to cook them only for 20 to 30 seconds they will cook extremely quickly so you definitely have to pay close attention because they'll overly Brown before you know it set them to the side on some paper towels discard that oil place that Wok back on the burner on high heat adding in two more tablespoons of that peanut oil once it begins to lightly smoke like this I'm now going to add in my chicken now I've got a lot of chicken so I'm going to do it in two separate batches totally fine after you add the chicken in there grab that spoon or spatula and press it up the sides of the wok we want to get a really nice sear on this we do not want to steam it and that is why I do this more surface area means more searing Browning and flavor now to stir fry grab the handle with one hand stick the spoon right in the center and move the pan back and forth while gently moving that spoon this is how you stir fry does nothing more complicated than than this properly doing this stir-fry procedure will ensure that the chicken is browned and cooked through in about three minutes so set the chicken to the side I like to put on paper towels just to drain off any excess oil then what I'm going to do is add that Wok back onto the burner two more tablespoons of peanut oil and I'm going to add in the remaining chicken now if you're familiar with Chinese cooking you know that oil is in and out of this pan at all times all right once that's done cooking just add it to the rest of the chicken now add that Wok again back to the burner over medium Heat this time with two tablespoons of sesame oil want a little bit more flavor there that's why I'm using that one add in the garlic and the ginger now this is going to cook very quickly maybe 30 to 45 seconds until it becomes fragrant and lightly browned at this stage I know I'm good so I'm going to add in those Sichuan peppercorns to bring out more flavor from that and then they'll Sichuan chilies stir frying here for just about one to one and a half minutes this is going to bring out more of those nice zesty flavors again comfortably spicy not so hot that I need to drink a glass some milk afterwards now grab the sauce and then give it a quick stir because a lot of times that corn starch gets stuck at the bottom pour it in there and it will thicken almost immediately over that Medium heat until you get a nice velvety sauce just like this grab our cooked chicken pour it right in there then using that spatula or a spoon just move things around to combine the sauce and coat it completely on the chicken then I like to add in those green onions and peanuts save a little bit to the side of both of those for garnish at the end mix all of those ingredients together to help marry those flavors and then what would kung pao chicken be without some nice fluffy rice and in case you're wondering I did rinse this very well under cold water before cooking it and hey it is Fluffy I'll give you that and this sauce is really similar to a sweet and sour sauce with a little bit of zest in there from the peppercorns and the chilies now I use a lot of these same ingredients in some of my other dishes like General sews Mongolian beef and My Thai Drunken Noodles just in case you want to use them up in other places and it still always goes back to these fundamental techniques and putting them into practice over and over again so that you can Master the art of cooking and guess what people are going to want to come to your house for better than takeout all right let me show you how to Plate this up I'm starving so I'm adding quite a bit of this kung pao chicken to a shallow bowl see all those delicious flavors then I garnish with a little bit more green onions remember I told you to save those to the side and then finally a little bit more fried peanuts I cannot wait to get into this there's a lot of flavor in this dish you could also add in things like bell peppers carrots or broccoli have some fun here but it's so easy the flavors are fantastic It's Quickly going to go into your weeknight rotation that my friend is a promise now if you like this recipe you're gonna love my beef stir-fry so good so easy to do I've got a great recipe video see you on there foreign [Music]

Channel: Chef Billy Parisi

Views: 13,217

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Id: ogbMa-LZiUE

Length: 10min 43sec (643 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 23 2023