How To Make Kung Pao Chicken 🤩 The Practical 宫保鸡丁 Guide!

Your One-Stop Guide on How to Make Kung Pao Chicken

“宫保鸡丁 (gōngbǎo jīdīng) Kung Pao Chicken” is usually considered a “川菜 (chuāncài) Sichuan dish”.

However, it originally was a Guizhou dish,” and there is an interesting story behind this. 宫保鸡丁 (gōngbǎo jīdīng): Kung Pao Chicken

宫 (gōng) ” palace; “保 (bǎo) ”to protect; “鸡 (jī) ”chicken; “丁 (dīng )” small cube

Chapter #1 – A Little History

Chapter #2 – The Ingredients

Chapter #3 – Step by Step

A Little History

Kung Pao is said to be an innovation of 丁宝桢 (Dīng Bǎozhēn), a governor-general of Sichuan Province (born in Guizhou Province) during the Qing Dynasty. Dīng Bǎozhēn loved to cook and while in Sichuan, which especially enjoyed eating chicken, peanuts and spicy food.

While he worked as the governor-general of Sichuan, he invented the dish of deep-frying chicken cubes (鸡丁 jīdīng), dry red pepper, and peanuts 花生 (huāshēng) together.

What came out was delicious, hot 辣 (là) chicken with crisp (脆 cuì) peanuts. This dish soon became the favorite of Dīng Bǎozhēn.

In order to commend his great work, the Qing Dynasty honoured him as a “太子太保 (tàizǐ tàibǎo) officer who tutors the crown prince,” also called “宫保 (gōngbǎo) officer who governs the palace”, and when he passed away Sichuan people named his favorite and most popular dish as “宫保鸡丁 (gōngbǎo jīdīng) Kung Pao Chicken” to commemorate him.

PS – if you have a peanut allergy, you might want to steer clear of this dish and head here instead… to our peanut allergy danger zones article!

HOW TO MAKE KUNG PAO CHICKEN

Kung Pao Chicken Ingredients – 食材清单 (shícái qīngdān)

• 鸡肉 （腿或者胸脯）jīròu (tuǐ // xiōngpú) – Chicken meat (leg /chest)
• 花生 (huāshēng) – peanuts
• 辣椒油 (làjiāo yóu) – chilli oil
• 葱 (cōng) – scallion
• 姜 (jiāng) – ginger
• 蒜(suàn) – garlic
• 干辣椒 (gàn làjiāo) – dried chili
• 花椒 (huājiāo) – pepper
• 糖 (táng) – sugar
• 醋 (cù) – vinegar
• 老抽 (lǎo chōu) – dark soy sauce
• 料酒 (liàojiǔ) – cooking wine
• 盐 (yán) – salt
• 淀粉 (diànfěn) – starch

Kung Pao Chicken – Step-by-Step

• Cut the chicken into cubes. 将鸡脯肉切成小丁。 (jiāng jī pú ròu qiè chéng xiǎo dīng)

• Add 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, half a tablespoon of cooking oil, 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of starch and let marinade for 10 minutes, then mix with water starch. 加入一汤匙料酒、半汤匙食用油、半茶匙盐，一茶匙淀粉腌渍10分钟，再用水淀粉拌匀。 (jiārù yī tāngchí liàojiǔ, bàn tāngchí shíyòng yóu, bàn cháchí yán, yī cháchí diànfěn yānzì 10 fēnzhōng, zài yòngshuǐ diànfěn bàn yún.)

• Wash the scallion and cut into sections, wash the dried peppers, and them to remove the seeds. 将大葱洗净切段，干辣椒洗净，剪去两头去除辣椒籽。 (jiāng dàcōng xǐ jìng qiè duàn, gàn làjiāo xǐ jìng, jiǎn qù liǎngtóu qùchú làjiāo zǐ.)

• Add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, salt, ginger, sugar and cooking wine in a small bowl and mix it well to make seasoning sauce. 在小碗中调入酱油、香醋、盐、姜、糖和料酒，混合均匀制成调味料汁。 (Zài xiǎo wǎn zhōng tiáo rù jiàngyóu, xiāng cù, yán, jiāng, táng hé liàojiǔ, hùnhé jūnyún zhì chéng tiáowèi liào zhī.)

• Leave the oil in the pot. Heat and put the dried pepper into the sauce, stir-fry on a low flame, and then add the scallion. 锅中留底油，烧热后将干辣椒放入，用小火煸炸出香味，随后放入大葱段。 (Guō zhōng liú dǐ yóu, shāo rè hòu jiāng gàn làjiāo fàng rù, yòng xiǎo huǒ biān zhà chū xiāngwèi, suíhòu fàng rù dàcōng duàn.)

• Add the chicken, put 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, stir the chicken until all of the chicken cubes begin to change color, then pour the starch. 放入鸡丁，放1汤匙料酒，将鸡丁滑炒变色，然后倒入水淀粉。 (Fàng rù jī dīng, fàng 1 tāngchí liàojiǔ, jiāng jī dīng huá chǎo biànsè, ránhòu dào rù shuǐ diànfěn.)

• Finally, add the sauce and the scallion and stir-fry for 10 seconds. 最后调入料汁，加入大葱段，快炒十秒钟 。 (zuìhòu diào rù liào zhī, jiārù dàcōng duàn, kuài chǎo shí miǎo zhōng.)
• Add the fried peanuts, stir adequately, and serve immediately! 加入炸好的花生米，快速炒匀，立即出锅！ (jiārù zhà hǎo de huāshēng mǐ, kuàisù chǎo yún, lìjí chū guō!)

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