The many faces of Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁

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You can have Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁at the all-you-can eat Chinese buffet in the strip mall on the outskirts of Smalltown, Texas, USA. I know because I’ve eaten it there. Panda Express also dishes up a ton of it at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Concourse B. You can always count on it to form the cornerstone of an honest, solid meal. East or West.

 

But if you start chasing it around Mainland China, you will quickly find that the name is the same wherever you go, but what the waitress delivers to your table definitely won’t be what you remembered having last week down the road a piece. It varies all over the map. More so than most popular dishes. Why is that?

 

Gongbao jiding (kung pao chicken) originated in Shandong during the latter Qing. Chicken and peanuts were both staples of Shandong Cuisine, which is also know as 鲁菜 lu cai. The Governor of Shandong Province 山东省 was a real aficionado of that particular taste combination; anecdote has it that he would even occasionally fiddle around with cooking it himself instead of just relegating the task to his staff. We are talking about Ding Baozhen 丁宝桢（1820年－1886年.）  

 

   

 

Shandong Governor Ding was originally from Guizhou 贵州省 and that is where he began his political career. When his relatives and friends from back home visited him at the Governor’s Mansion, he couldn’t wait to introduce them to his Shandong “find.” They were suitably impressed and carried the word back to Guizhou. The dish was quickly adapted to the local palate, and soon became a staple of Guizhou Cuisine 黔菜 (Qian Cai) as well. Guizhou loves hot food, so the fire quotient was ramped up. Guizhou also insists that sour be part of the flavor mix. That was accomplished by including pickled vegetables 泡菜。

 

In his later years, Ding was appointed governor of Sichuan. Not surprisingly, he took his culinary discovery with him. Once again it was modified for local tastes and to make use of prized local ingredients such as Sichuan peppercorns, also known as prickly ash, a mouth-numbing member of the citrus family 花椒 huajiao. Today Gongbao jiding 宫保鸡丁 definitely belongs to the cannon of best-loved Sichuan Cuisine 川菜 chuancai.

 

Ding continued to attract favorable national attention by revising the salt tax codes and by refurbishing the famous Dujiangyan Water Conservation System 都江堰水利工。In the course of his long career, Governor Ding caught the eye of the Qing Emperor in a positive way, and before long his favorite dish got picked up by the power elite in the northern capital city. It earned a proud place in Beijing Cuisine.  

 

So today your order of Gongbao Jiding 宫保鸡丁 can have many faces, many different looks. Not to worry; they are all pretty darned good. I’ll show you one very decent recipe that’s not difficult to cook up at home, but I make no extravagant claims to it being the “one true way” or the “gold standard.” (Please click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

   

 

 

The finished product and the vegetables. Start with the meat. Use two large chicken breasts if you plan to make enough for 3 or 4 people to share as part of a Chinese meal. I suggest buying fresh chicken, instead of frozen chicken breasts since they have more taste. The two I had today weighed 0.549 kg (a little over a pound.) I sliced them open first off so they wouldn’t be quite so thick, then proceeded to cut the meat into roughly one-inch cubes. 鸡丁

 

Safety tip: Put a folded piece of damp paper kitchen towel under the cutting board so it won’t scoot around.

 

Marinate the cut chicken in a mixture of 1 beaten egg white 蛋清, ½ teaspoon cooking salt 食用盐, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper 白胡椒粉, 1 tablespoon of yellow cooking wine 料酒, and a heaping teaspoon of corn starch 玉米淀粉。Put on a disposable glove 一次性手套 and massage the seasonings into the meat. Let it marinate 腌制 in the fridge about 15 minutes. Notice that the marinade isn’t “soupy.” It coats the meat without much excess.

 

   

 

 

While the chicken is marinating, wipe a small amount of cooking oil around the inside of your wok and heat it with low flame. Put in a heaping teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns 花椒 and stir them until you start to smell their lemon-zest aroma. Take them out and let them cool.

 

Then cook a handful of peanuts 花生米 the same way. You want them to slowly toast, but not scorch or burn. Keep them moving over low flame for a couple minutes. They become crunchy as they cool, not while they are still hot.

 

   

 

 

Crush the toasted Sichuan peppercorns in a mortar and pestle or in a bowl with the back of a stout soup spoon. Toasting and crushing them like this greatly increases their flavor. Set them and the roasted peanuts aside, turning your attention to the vegetables.

 

Cut the red bell pepper 红甜椒 into thumb-sized pieces and chop a cucumber 黄瓜 into cubes 小块 that are about the same size as the chicken. If you are using long Chinese cucumbers as shown, no need to peel them. Cut the spring onion into rounds, using only the white part. Mince 切碎 a thumb of ginger 生姜 and a clove or two of garlic 大蒜。

 

Prepare a thickening sauce 勾芡酱 by putting a heaping teaspoon of corn starch and a half cup of water into a bowl. Stir well to dissolve. Stir in a tablespoon of sugar 白砂糖。Add a tablespoon of cooking wine 黄酒, a tablespoon of dark vinegar 老陈醋, a tablespoon of light soy sauce 生抽 and about a third as much dark soy sauce 老抽。Set aside.  

 

   

 

 

Prep finished, time now to cook. Get the chicken from the fridge, stir it up. I always like to lay out the ingredients and mentally rehearse what goes in first, what follows, and so on. I suppose you could even arrange all your “mis en place” dishes in time-sequence order if you were of a mind to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hot wok, cold oil” 热锅粮油。I realize you knew that; just a reminder. Preheat it before adding two or three tablespoons of cooking oil. I used corn oil today. Flame on medium 中火 instead of high. Chicken requires a different approach from pork or beef.

 

Add the chicken in one layer, spreading it quickly with your chopsticks (not all mounded up in the center of the wok.) Leave it alone for a minute or so, allowing it to sear. Carefully scrape it up and turn it over, trying to minimize surface tearing. It should mostly have changed color from pink to white by now and have a little bit of golden crust. The goal for this first stage is to only cook it two-thirds or so; not completely done. Only takes two minutes max.

 

   

 

 

Add the crushed Sichuan peppercorns and 4 or 5 dry red peppers 干辣椒。I usually just tear these peppers in half as I add them. Some people cut them into smaller bits with scissors. Stir everything well and then add the chopped cucumbers and red bell peppers. Add new ingredients to the center of the wok; that’s the hottest part. Then stir it all together. Give it a minute or so, allowing flavors to blend, stirring and flipping all the while 煸炒，翻炒。

 

   

 

 

Now the thickening sauce goes in, mixing it well at the last minute because the solids will have settled in the bowl. Stir everything well for a minute or so until you see the chicken and vegetables developing an attractive sheen. Last of all, add the peanuts and incorporate them more or less evenly 搅拌均匀。You want the peanuts to have a very short cooking time so they will retain their crispy texture.

 

   

 

 

Plate it up 装盘。Admire your handiwork. Snap a photo with your phone. Set it on the table. Call the team to come dig in. Gongbao jiding and steamed rice 蒸饭 are just about inseparable, so plan ahead and have some rice ready when the chicken comes off the stove.  

 

   

 

 

Took a little over half an hour today, maybe 45 minutes including clean up. I listened to the Sutherland - Pavarotti Turandot while working. London Philharmonic/Zubin Mehta.  

 

Although this is fun to make at home, it’s also an easy thing to order in a simple restaurant. Any random six-table Mom and Pop joint will be able to turn it out. I often supplement it with a clear green-leafy vegetable soup. 苦菜汤 kucai tang, for example, is easy to find and serves the purpose of turning this into a real meal: veggie, meat, and soup. Tasty and won’t break the bank.  Try it soon and see what you think!

 

Here's the recipe all in one place to make it easier to use: (Click "reveal hidden contents." 

 

Spoiler

Gong Bao Ji Ding Recipe 宫保鸡丁做法

 

Ingredients: 材料/配料

1.    2 large chicken breasts, about 500 grams, cut into 1-inch cubes.  鸡胸肉

2.    1 long cucumber, cut into one-inch cubes, skin on. 长黄瓜

3.    1 red bell pepper, seeds and pith removed, sliced into thumb-sized pieces. 红甜椒

4.    1 large spring onion, white part only, sliced into thin rounds. 大葱

5.    1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed. 花椒

6.    4 or 5 dried red chili peppers, torn in half. 干辣椒

7.    A one-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced.  生姜

8.    1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced. 大蒜

9.    1/3 of a cup of peanuts, lightly toasted. 花生米

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Marinade: – (Stir together in a bowl)

1 egg white 蛋清

½ teaspoon salt 食用盐

½ teaspoon ground white pepper 白胡椒粉

1 Tablespoon Shaoxing yellow cooking wine 绍兴酒/黄酒/料酒

1 heaping teaspoon corn starch 玉米淀粉

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Thickening sauce:

1 heaping teaspoon of corn starch mixed into ½ cup of cool water 水淀粉

1 Tablespoon light soy sauce 生抽

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 老抽

1 Tablespoon dark aged vinegar 老陈醋

1 Tablespoon Shaoxing wine 绍兴酒

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar 白砂糖

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 Preparation: 做法步骤

1.    Marinate the chicken cubes for 15 minutes in the fridge.

2.    Wipe the inside of the wok with oil and then roast the Sichuan peppercorns a minute or two over low. Once they cool, crush them in a mortar and pestle.

3.    Roast the peanuts in the same pan a minute or two over low.

4.    Heat the wok to medium, add 2 or 3 Tablespoons of corn oil, spread out the chicken cubes in one layer. Let them sear undisturbed for most of a minute. Then scrape them up and cook a minute more, jjust until the meat loses its pink color.

5.    Stir in the torn dry red pepper and the crushed Sichuan peppercorns, followed by the ginger, garlic and spring onion. Stir fry until you can smell the aroma.

6.    Add the red bell pepper and cucumber. These can be eaten raw, so they don’t really need to cook. They just need to get hot and mix with the other ingredients.

7.    Add the thickening sauce. Stir it well because the solids will have settled to the bottom of the bowl. Cook everything together for another minute or so, until the food develops a gloss or sheen.

8.    Stir in the peanuts and allow them to just barely heat.

9.    Serve alongside steamed rice.  

 

 

[889]

Not even a teasponful of sugar!

I'm pretty sure in Beijing there's a cupful in this dish.

[Xiao Kui]

Wow, I didn't know kung pao chicken wasn't from Sichuan - that was a revelation! I would say that after living there for 2 years I prefer the Sichuan version and find it difficult to enjoy anywhere else in China. I especially can't stand it with cucumbers! I'm not a fan of cooked cucumbers anyway, and they almost ruin this dish for me which is only saved by the fact  that i can avoid them with chopsticks!  The only vegetables they put in it in Chengdu were wosun and scallions. Also, it is never made in Sichuan without sugar.  I had difficulty enjoying it even one province away in Yunnan where it was always made without huajiao, and often without sugar. The dish is completely different from the Sichuan version there.  In Henan they usually leave out the sugar, sometimes get the huajiao in, but often add *gasp* carrots! Just my personal experience of and preference for this dish.  I'm not sure of its seasonal availability but I do suggest you try making it with wosun if you haven't tried it before. I got it at the market in Kunming and made it at home when I was desperate for the taste that I was accustomed to.

 

 

[Larry Language Lover]

Wow, you really know how to cook.  That looks absolutely delicious!

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3 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

I'm not sure of its seasonal availability but I do suggest you try making it with wosun if you haven't tried it before.

 

That sounds excellent. Thanks, I'll try it soon. My outdoor market still has plenty of wosun 莴笋。What I took away from reading a whole lot of recipes on the Chinese internet was that the vegetables, whichever ones you choose, should take a back seat to the chicken, should not compete with the chicken, should let the chicken be the star. 

 

10 hours ago, 889 said:

Not even a teasponful of sugar!

 

Aaargh! In copying the recipe from my notebook to the forum post, I forgot to write in the sugar. Thank you for calling that to my attention! 真不好意思！

 

Even though sugarless versions do exist, Kung Pao Chicken usually does include sugar so as to produce a balance between three essential flavors: sweet, sour, and spicy/hot 甜酸辣。Especially true with the Beijing edition; seems to be the sweetest one. In point of fact, i included one tablespoon of sugar in the thickening sauce. Will go back and make that correction right now.   

 

In a little while, I'll write out a succinct copy of the recipe itself complete with an ingredient list. That's a good way to prevent oversights like this. Also makes it easier for other people to follow the recipe when they make it themselves. 

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9 hours ago, Larry Language Lover said:

Wow, you really know how to cook.  That looks absolutely delicious!

 

Thank you @Larry Language Lover -- Cooking Chinese food is one of my hobbies. I live in Kunming and have access to lots of prime fresh seasonal ingredients. They are always an inspiration, year around. I just walk through the local farmers market and get ideas. Talk with the vendors about how they suggest cooking their produce; they always have practical suggestions. And I also like to recreate the classics. 

 

Here are some other Chinese Forum recipes which are indexed alphabetically. You might find something else that strikes your fancy.

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/52430-alphabetical-index-of-food-articles/

@Xiao Kui -- 

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Wow, I didn't know kung pao chicken wasn't from Sichuan - that was a revelation! 

 

Well, actually it sort of is from Sichuan. But it is also sort of from Shandong, Guizhou, and Beijing. Several regions claim it. This dish got around, and everyplace it passed through produced some changes. 

 

Now it also exists in New York, London, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Singapore and so on.  Every place which has adopted it as its own makes some changes so it will appeal more to local tastes. 

[889]

In a good restaurant they'd no doubt throw a dollop of long-simmered chicken stock into the wok. And in a not-so-good one a dollop of 味精.

 

Stocks can make all the difference in creating a dish with a deep and complex flavor. Do you use them?

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6 hours ago, 889 said:

Stocks can make all the difference in creating a dish with a deep and complex flavor. Do you use them?

 

Agree in principle. I always have frozen home-made stock 高汤 on hand. But I don't use it in this dish since the amount of required liquid is so small. 

 

What I do when I want to "kick it up a notch" is to make Kung Pao Chicken out of chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. A bit more work, since you must cut the meat off the bone. But dark meat has more flavor. It also has less of a tendency to dry out. The second trick is to use a little 郫县豆瓣酱 early on, when frying the chicken by itself, before adding the vegetables. 

[ChTTay]

Generally cheaper restaurants will add carrot and cucumber. Especially if it’s 盖饭. On the one hand, less chicken is needed and, on the other, turns it into a bit more of a meal. 

 

If you go to a better restaurant, especially Beijing or Sichuan style, they’ll just have chicken scallion and peanuts. 

 

Personally the worst 宫保鸡丁 I had was in Chengdu. My friend who lived there also didn’t find any great home style stuff while he lived there. He guessed perhaps because they all cook that stuff at home a lot more. Who knows ... 

The best I’ve ever had in 9 years is from a small Sichuan restaurant in Yinchuan. The owner and chef was from Sichuan and his son was second-chef. Whole family lived above the restaurant. 

[889]

I suppose we should add a warning here that 宫保鸡丁 is a standard item on the menu of the cheap chain fast food places, where it seems to be prepared in a vast factory months before then somehow re-heated in the back of the store that masquerades as a kitchen before arriving at your table, often as a soggy tasteless 宫保鸡丁盖饭. Sad to say, even some places that resemble a real restaurant will put re-heated junk on your table these days.

 

In 10 or 20 years, getting food hot out of the wok in a Chinese restaurant may well become a very expensive treat, so enjoy eating out in China while you can.

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Those sound like good reasons to make it at home, at least when time permits. You can use good quality ingredients and you can vary the seasonings and ingredient contents according to personal preference. Plus you can be sure it's made fresh from scratch on the premises, in your own kitchen. 

 

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In 10 or 20 years, getting food hot out of the wok in a Chinese restaurant may well become a very expensive treat, so enjoy eating out in China while you can.

 

In the US it's an increasingly-common sight to see a large truck pulled up to the back of small restaurants delivering food that has already been preppped and maybe partially cooked. The local staff just applies the finishing touches and serves it up. Restaurants run on such a thin margin that they see the time and labor saving this affords as something they must do to survive. It's a pity, but understandable. 

[Nathanwa]

On the topic of Panda Express "Chinese" food... Does anyone recognize these attempts at a signature favorite? (yep, I really made it that many times)

 

 

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Looks good! Thanks for posting. Is it their famous "orange chicken"? Or perhaps 糖醋鸡肉 sweet and sour chicken? Since you have posted it in this thread, I would be remiss not to also guess that it's your own version of Kung Pao Chicken.