Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken
rec.food.cooking/PCG#1/1996

If you love spicy food, and adore garlic, this dish will make you swoon. Paraphrased from Virginia Lee / Craig Claiborne's "The Chinese
Cookbook".

It is the best Kung Pao recipe I have ever eaten, and is very addictive. Beware, this dish is VERY spicy, and HEAVILY redolent with garlic. It's perfect for eating before interfacing with state bureaucrats, Italian garlic lovers, and crabby bosses. Fantastic as a leftover lunch, especially when reheated in the office microwave ;-). Be careful feeding it to the uninitiated though.

Virginia based the recipe size on 1 large, de-boned, skinned, chicken breast, and can be scaled up accordingly. Original recipe specified using a breast with the skin intact, but I usually remove the skin to reduce the fat content of the dish. I left out the salt and the MSG since the sauces are salty enough.

Sauce can also be used over wings, or as a BBQ marinade as well.

Contents:

1 boned, skinless chicken breast
2 TBSP cornstarch
half of an egg white (lightly beat the egg white, and divide in half).
2 TBSP whole bean sauce (ground bean paste is too salty)
1 TBSP Hoisin Sauce
1 TBSP (or to taste) Chili paste with garlic
(The best brand is TUONG OT TOI Vietnam Chili Garlic Sauce packaged
in a clear, plastic, wide mouthed bottle with a green cap. Made by Huy
Fong Foods Inc in Rosemead CA (818-286-8328). You can find it at most
decent, Asian grocery stores. Mucho hot!!!! Other brands are brewed for lightweights.
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP shao hsing wine (or cooking sherry)
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (not chopped)
12 - 16 small, red, dried chili peppers cut in half.
(These are not eaten! They add flavor, while transmitting a limited amount of heat to the actual dish. The chili paste is really what makes things hot! If you do eat a pepper though, you will not forget the experience for a long while!)
1 cup of fresh, unsalted, hulled peanuts (not roasted) (I have used roasted, unsalted nuts, but don't cook them. I add them when I mix the chicken with the sauce at the end).

Procedure:

Cut the chicken breasts into 3/4 inch chunks. Combine with half an egg white, and 2 tsp cornstarch. This will protect the chicken, and keep it moist during the cooking process.

Let sit refrigerated for 30 minutes.

Blanch (boil for about a minute) veggies of your choice - broccoli, cabbage, julienne carrots, bamboo shoots, etc. Drain well. Add fresh (not canned), thick bean sprouts to the mix if you wish.

Mix the bean sauce, the Hoisin sauce, the chili paste, the flattened garlic, the sugar, the vinegar and the sherry in a cup. Be careful not to inhale, spill or get the mixture on the skin. It will dissolve the rust from chrome. Set aside.

(Seriously, getting chili residue into the eyes, nose, or other sensitive places can be very unpleasant. Watch out if you have cuts or abrasions on your hands. The oil is very long lasting on the skin).

Heat 2 cups of oil (more or less - use your judgment) in a wok to the point where it is almost boiling but not smoking. If it smokes, turn it down. Fry the peanuts until they are a light golden brown. Remove immediately from the oil. The peanuts will continue to cook after removal, so cook them carefully. Drain on paper towels.

With the oil still hot, cook the chicken pieces until they are translucent throughout (not browned). Remove, and drain on a paper towel.

(PS If cooking with one cup of oil makes your arteries dizzy, you can cook the mess with about 2 TBS of oil. If the wok is hot enough, the chicken will not stick. 2 cups of oil are really not as bad as they sound though. If the oil is hot, the chicken will not absorb the oil and become greasy)

Remove most of the oil, leaving 2 TBS. Heat to right before the smoking point. Add the hot peppers, and cook until they are brownish black. DON'T BREATH THE FUMES! Coughing is an acceptable part of the procedure at this point in the preparation.

Stir fry the veggies until hot. They should be crisp, not soggy.

Remove veggies, and place on a platter. Add chicken to the hot wok, and immediately add the sauce mix. Stir until hot. Watch the fumes!

Pour chicken mix over the veggies. Serve with rice. Eat to excess.