Quick and Easy Kung Pao Chicken
Quick and Easy Kung Pao Chicken. You can easily make this take out favourite in less time than it takes to order take out... plus you can make this dish as spicy or mild as you like, the heat is very easy to control.
Kung Pao Chicken is my favourite take-out lunch these days, especially when I crave something spicy. I've been playing around with a few recipes at home lately and really like this simple version.
This is not only a very simple but very fast recipe for a weekday dinner. You can have this one on the table in 20 minutes.
Love recipes like this?
A similar quick recipe is our incredibly popular version of Beef and Broccoli.
TOP TEN Asian Cooking Ingredients to keep on hand.
This recipe also makes use of some basic Asian cooking ingredients that I always keep in the fridge or cupboard. My TOP TEN Asian cooking ingredients that I always try to have on hand are:
- Hoisin sauce
- Fish sauce
- Toasted sesame oil
- Ginger root. ( I keep mine in the freezer and then easily grate it frozen)
- Rice wine vinegar.
- Five Spice powder.
- Low sodium soy sauce (recommended for all my recipes that call for it)
- Oyster Sauce
- Sesame seeds
- Crushed chili paste ( sambal oelek or similar)
Looking for more chicken dinner ideas.
Be sure to check out this collection of our Most Popular Chicken Recipes of the last decade.
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Quick and Easy Kung Pao Chicken
Quick and Easy Kung Pao Chicken - you can easily make this take out favourite in less time than it takes to order take out...plus you can make this dish as spicy or mild as you like, the heat is very easy to control.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut small cubes
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, or canola oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- pinch fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons additional peanut oil
- 4 to 6 whole chiles, You can substitute chili sauce or crushed chili paste, like Sambal, to better control the heat to your taste. Start with about a teaspoon for mild heat.
- ¼ cup rice wine
- 2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon Black Bean Sauce, you can replace this with more hoisin if you prefer.
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root
- ½ teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 diced red pepper
- 4 green onions chopped in 1 inch pieces
Cornstarch slurry
- 1 ounce 1 water
- 1 teaspoon 1 corn starch
Garnish (optional)
- Toasted cashews or peanuts
Instructions
- In a hot wok, add the peanut oil and saute the chicken with the garlic and pepper until almost completely cooked. Remove the chicken from the wok for the time being.
- To the hot wok add the additional oil and chilies.
- Toss the chilies in the oil for a few seconds before adding all the following ingredients quickly and all at once (I like to mix them together before starting to cook): the rice wine, Hoisin sauce, Black Bean Sauce, sugar, grated ginger root, Chinese 5 spice powder, toasted sesame oil, ight soy sauce, dark soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper.
- Reduce the heat on the wok to medium and bring the sauce to a simmer before adding the chicken back to the wok along with the red pepper and chopped green onions.
- Cook for an additional minute.
- To thicken the sauce stir in a slurry of about 1 ounce water mixed with 1 teaspoon corn starch. If you want he sauce thicker, just make a little more of the slurry to add.
- Serve on a bed of rice or Chinese noodles and garnish with toasted peanuts or cashews.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 449Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 4gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 109mgSodium 1101mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 2gSugar 15gProtein 39g
Looks like a fast and simple recipe...but where's the best place to buy Chinese 5 spice in St. John's?
Any supermarket or Bulk Barn, the latter bing much less expensive.
Yum!! Chinese 5 spice is also delicious on sweet potato fries in the oven. Thanks for the great recipe!
Any idea where to find rice wine and black bean sauce in st. Johns?
Some of the larger supermarkets carry more of these things now but you could always try Magic Wok store on Duckworth St.
Could the chicken be switched out for pork because spouse inadvertently took out pork sirloin chops from the freezer and I am making this dish soon? I don't want to refreeze the meat but the profile seems very interesting to me.