Take out style Kung Pao Chicken with marinated chicken, the signature sweet-sour-salty Kung Pao sauce with the addictive tingling heat from sichuan pepper.
It’s an explosion of big, BIG flavours – and it’s a really quick and easy recipe.
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken is a Chinese takeout favourite that is mouthwateringly good and highly addictive – so it’s a good thing it’s easy to make at home so we don’t need to order takeout every time we crave it!! We love the strong flavoured sweet-sour-savoury sauce with the signature tingle of numbing heat from the Sichuan pepper!
If you’re wondering whether Kung Pao Chicken is authentic Chinese, the dish as we know it outside of China is a slightly westernised version of an authentic Chinese Sichuan dish.
Traditionally in China, Kung Pao Chicken is a dry stir fry. Which means, unlike 99% of other Asian stir fries on my site like Chop Suey and Cashew Chicken, it’s not swimming in loads of sauce.
But with Kung Pao Chicken, the sauce is very intense flavoured so you don’t need loads of it. When it mixes in with the rice, just a bit of sauce goes a long way.
What goes in Kung Pao Chicken
Most of these ingredients are pretty mainstream Asian cooking ingredients. I’ve provided substitutes for the Chinese cooking wine in the recipe.
The ingredients I describe in a little more detail below are:
Sichuan pepper
Chinese vinegar
Dried chillies
I like to use chicken thigh because it’s juicier than breast and tenderloin. If I make this with chicken breast, I always tenderise it using a Chinese restaurant technique using baking soda (bi-carb). It’s super simple, see directions here: How to Velvet Chicken.
Sichuan Pepper
This is the ingredient in Kung Pao sauce that makes it Kung Pao and not just any type of stir fry sauce. I describe it as a little bit lemony with a numbing spiciness, rather than hot spiciness like almost every other chilli.
I used to use whole peppercorns but nowadays I tend to use pre ground both for the convenience and also because it’s finely ground. In contrast, if you grind your own, there tends to be little gritty bits in it – albeit the flavour is a bit better.
Best substitute for Sichuan pepper is white pepper.
Dried Chillies
Not all dried chillies are created equal and in fact, the same type of chillies can vary in spiciness throughout the year. So for dried chillies, always taste them and make a judgement call on how much you can handle! Most of the heat is in the seeds which are removed.
If you really don’t think you can handle any chilli at all, use them when cooking but don’t eat them. The chillies add flavour to to sauce so don’t skip them.
What does Kung Pao Sauce taste like?
Kung Pao sauce has a strong flavour that is sweet, sour, savoury and with the signature tingle of heat from Sichuan pepper. It’s glossy and thickened with cornstarch / cornflour, and because it has such a strong flavour, this stir fry has less sauce than other Chinese favourites like Cashew Chicken and Beef and Broccoli.
Here’s what goes in Kung Pao Sauce:
Sichuan Pepper – described above
Chinese Black Vinegar – described below
Cornstarch / cornflour – to thicken the sauce
– subs available
Soy sauce, sugar and water
Chinese Black Vinegar
Looks like balsamic vinegar and, surprisingly, tastes vaguely like it. Available in Asian stores and costs only a couple of dollars for a big bottle. Be sure not to get Taiwanese or another Asian black vinegar (some taste completely different), make sure you get Chinese black vinegar (read the label!).
If you can’t find it, don’t worry, you can use rice wine vinegar, plain white vinegar or even balsamic vinegar. I’ve made Kung Pao Sauce so many times and tried it with each of these, and it’s actually quite similar.
Quick to cook
As with most stir fries, once you start cooking, things move quickly! It takes about 6 minutes to cook. So make sure you have all ingredients prepared and ready to toss in.
Key Tip: Cook the Kung Pao sauce down until it reduces to a syrupy consistency with quite an intense flavour. That’s the Kung Pao way!!
Phew! I don’t usually end up writing so much stuff about ingredients in a post! So I’m signing off here and handing over the recipe. Don’t forget the recipe video below! I think it’s especially useful to see the consistency of the sauce at the end – it should be thick and syrupy, and intense dark brown colour. Enjoy! – Nagi x
More Chinese takeout favourites
Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
See all Chinese recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb / 500g chicken thigh , cut into bite size pieces
Sauce
- 2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp sugar , any
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/3 cup water
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or other cooking oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tsp ginger , finely chopped
- 6 – 10 dried chillies (adjust to taste), cut into 2cm/ 3/4″ pieces, most seeds discarded (Note 7)
- 3 green onions , cut into 2cm/ 3/4″ pieces, white parts separated from green
- 1.5 tsp ground sichuan peppercorns , adjust to taste (Note 6)
- 3/4 cup whole peanuts (or 1/2 cup halved) , roasted unsalted
Instructions
Sauce & Marinade Chicken:
- Mix cornflour and soy sauce in a small bowl until cornflour is dissolved. Then mix in remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT water.
- Pour 1.5 tbsp Sauce over chicken. Toss to coat, set aside for 10 – 20 minutes.
- Add water into remaining Sauce.
Stir Fry:
- Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add chicken, cook until it turns white, then add the white part of the green onions. Cook until chicken is cooked through – about 2 minutes.
- Add Sauce and Sichuan pepper. Bring to simmer, mixing constantly, until almost all the sauce reduces to a thick syrup.
- Just before the end, mix through peanuts and green part of the green onions. Also check spiciness – add more Sichuan pepper if you can handle the heat!
- Serve immediately with rice – or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Lucky 8: Eight more Chinese takeout favourites
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Oooh! I hope you love it Tina!! 🙂
I pinned this to try. Sounds fabulous.
Ooh I hope you do Barbara!!! 🙂
Who doesn’t want to eat velvet chicken? What a cool technique…We are huge fans of Kung Pao Chicken in this house and I love the idea of making it at home instead of take out. Thanks for another winner!
It’s awesome!!! Honestly, it is such a neat trick to keep chicken breast juicy and moist without marinating!!!
Ooooh that sounds so good! I love the combo but I have to say that I got distracted when you started talking about “the sauce”. Then I got to thinking about a song by Meghan Trainor — It’s All About the Base. Then as I’m following your recipe I’m humming the tune 🙁 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk It’s a pretty catchy tune. Unfortunately I have to warn you — if you listen to it you can’t get it out of your head. I’ve tried.
As soon as you said that, of COURSE I had to click on it and now it IS stuck in my head! Thanks alot Marisa!!!!!
Wow! These may be my favorite photos from you (and that’s saying a lot because all of your photos are gorgeous)! I just love how perfectly rich and glossed they are! You seriously have me wanting to reach through the screen and dive in! Perfection!
Really? This set was EASY! Stir fries are so easy because they are such easy subjects!!!
Hi Nagi, thank you so much for the recipe for Kung Pao Chiken! My hubby had it a restaurant we seldom go to and our regular one doesn’t serve it (but it makes a wonderful chicken and peaches dish). This is his favorite dish now! Do you have a recipe for the sesame/rice balls that have red bean paste in the middle? My brother and I love them and again only made at the other restaurant. Keep up the great recipes, please, I love them.
Hi Diana! I do hope you love it!! I’m like you, I don’t have a Chinese place near me that serves KPC which is why I had to make my own “perfect” restaurant version!! Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe for sesame rice balls but I know exactly what you mean 🙂 one of my faves at Yum Cha!!!
This sounds great…I will try…
Can you tenderize (velvet) flank steak as well with baking soda? Flank steak is always so tough when I make stir fries with it…in restaurants they are tender…
Yup! You sure can Lyn, in fact, it’s perfect for tough cuts of beef. Flank is tough when stir fried because strips are super card to cook rare which is the only way flank is juicy 🙂 Oh, the other tip is to cut the flanks against the grain i.e. across the fibres, this helps make them tender too 🙂
I like your recipes ,there made with soul , your hands are golden , and you Dog is beautiful , I love all Animals , every one should treat them with compassion and wisdom , ,you have a very attentive site ,you visualize ahead when writing out recipes , I love to cook collect cook books from all over the world , we are so far apart on earth yet so close ,west Island Quebec ,Canada lily gar
Hi Lily, all the way from Sydney Australia! I am so glad you like my recipes and that you think my dog is cute!!! 🙂
I love how many versions of this there are. I’ve made Kenji’s version from Serious Eats and Woks Of Life version. Now I have another one to try. I’ve never velveted with baking soda. Only cornstarch. I’m intrigued. Having this tomorrow for dinner.
I’ve made them too!! They are both great! Kenji’s has a lengthier ingredient list than mine, and he thinks the chicken benefits from marinating whereas I just tenderise instead. From memory Wok’s of Life used rice wine instead of Chinese wine and I remember it was a touch less sour?? I really like both those versions though, I’d say they are the best “out there”. 🙂
Kenji has what he calls “takeout style KPC” and “real deal KPC”. They all use Shaoxing wine, but I think WOL uses rice wine vinegar. I always use the black vinegar. Kenji also uses broad bean paste. I ordered some from Amazon and received it today. I’m going to make yours for dinner tomorrow as written. Then I’ll bet I settle on a combination of all 3. Can’t really wrap my head around the baking soda, but I’m going for it. Chicken thighs defrosting right now. 🙂 I’ll report back after dinner tomorrow.
Trust me, the baking soda really works!!! Brilliant for tenderising chicken, especially breast 🙂 I look forward to hearing what you think!!!
This kung pao chicken is delish!!! I think the baking soda worked. Kind of hard to tell because chicken thighs are so tender (I always use thighs for stir frys). I’m going to make it with breasts just for fun. Yes, I’m that weird about testing stuff. Lol. Great recipe and I’ll be making it again and again.
WOO HOO!!! I was actually a bit nervous waiting for feedback from the Queen of KPC!!! 🙂 Thanks for the great feedback Susan and YES, try it with chicken breast! Tenderising with baking soda is especially effective with breast! 🙂
Nagi, I discovered your blog like yesterday and I am mesmerised by the pictures! This chicken looks soo divine I just wanna lick my screen here haha!
Thank you Julie! I’m so glad you like my site!!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! Meant to say “unstiff” which I know is not a word, but it works for me! 🙂
I gotcha Dorothy!!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! This is making me drool! I have been on a stir fry mission lately, we had stir fried pork with tons of veggies last night with a sweet and sour sauce. Made my belly happy! The only really affordable meat here is pork and chicken – occasionally beef is on sale. Gary has about a third of the garden in and that is a big plus! Hope your back is unsiiff and your head and mozzie bites are better! 🙂
Australian mozzies are vicious! I’ll be covered in red spots for at least another week!!! I love that you grow your own veggies for your stir fries 🙂 Is Gary in charge of our harden??? 😉
I have been hanging out for this recipe!!! We love Kung Pao Chicken in our house – partly because of the fun we have with saying the name of the dish, but largely because of the tremendously flavours of the sauce. Can’t wait to make this one!
GLORIA! Help me – is there somewhere that serves up Kung Pao chicken around where you are??? If so – LET’S GO!!!! My treat!!
I have not been able to find it anywhere near me, but I’ve been cooking someone else’s KPC recipe for the past couple of years. If you can find one near you, I have car and will travel!!!
I have just been informed that Din Tai Fung has Kung Pai Chicken but with Cashew instead of peanuts! There is one in Chatswood – let’s go! 🙂
I need a $500 return ticket too, s’pose that makes KPC a very expensive lunch so I’ll say thanks for the offer but I have to decline. Will be interested to know how it compares with your recipe.
It’s ON like Donkey Kong! Let’s go!!!
Emailing you now!
Wait for me! wait for me!
YES you should come!!!! 🙂 Chatswood, Din Tai Fung, lunch on me 🙂 I will email you both!