Gong Bao Ji Ding (Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken)
Small cubes of marinated chicken stir-fried over high heat with dried red chiles and whole Sichuan pepper, garlic, ginger and scallion, glazed in a light sweet-sour sauce with black vinegar and finished with crisp roasted peanuts.
Gong bao ji ding is named after Ding Baozhen, a late Qing dynasty governor of Sichuan who is said to have loved it; gong bao, "palace guardian," was his official title (Wikipedia gives his dates as 1820 to 1886:). Fuchsia Dunlop, the English writer whose Sichuan cookbook this recipe comes from, says no one agrees on the details: some say Ding brought the dish from his home province of Guizhou, some that he ate it in a humble restaurant while out in plain clothes, and some, less believably, that his cook chopped the chicken small because Ding had bad teeth (NPR:). Wikipedia adds a pun: ding, his surname, can also mean a small cube, the shape of the chicken.
The name nearly cost the dish its life. Dunlop writes that its link to an imperial official made it a target in the Cultural Revolution, when it was renamed "fast-fried chicken cubes" or "chicken cubes with seared chiles" until its political rehabilitation in the 1980s. What she describes on the plate is not the brown, sweet takeout dish most Americans know: a light sweet-and-sour sauce, deep chile heat and just enough Sichuan pepper to make your lips tingle, with the chicken, scallions and peanuts all cut to the same small size.
🇨🇳 The original
Small cubes of marinated chicken stir-fried over high heat with dried red chiles and whole Sichuan pepper, garlic, ginger and scallion, glazed in a light sweet-sour sauce with black vinegar and finished with crisp roasted peanuts.
🇺🇸 The American version
American takeout kung pao is milder and saucier, with bell peppers, celery and more sweetness, and often skips the numbing Sichuan peppercorn. See the American Takeout Kung Pao Chicken recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Spices first
Frying the chiles and Sichuan pepper alone in hot oil for a few seconds flavors the oil itself, so every cube of chicken comes out coated in chile heat and tingle without a single spoon of chili paste.
Peanuts last
The nuts go in after the sauce has thickened, so they stay crunchy against the soft, glossy chicken instead of softening in the liquid.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch strips, then into small cubes. Mix in the salt, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, starch and water and set aside about 15 minutes while you prepare everything else.
- Step 2
Peel and thinly slice the garlic and ginger. Cut the scallion whites into chunks as long as they are wide, to match the chicken. Snip the chiles in half or into 2-inch pieces and shake out as many seeds as you can (wear gloves).
- Step 3
Stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Step 4
Heat a wok over high heat, add the peanut oil and heat until it shimmers but does not smoke. Add the chiles and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry 10 to 15 seconds, until the chiles are crisp and darkening and the oil smells spicy. Pull the wok off the heat for a moment if they start to burn.
- Step 5
Add the chicken and stir-fry over high heat, stirring constantly. As soon as the cubes separate, about 1 minute, add the garlic, ginger and scallions and keep stir-frying 2 to 3 minutes more, until fragrant and the largest cube reads 165°F.
- Step 6
Stir the sauce, pour it in and toss about 30 seconds, until it turns thick and shiny.
- Step 7
Stir in the peanuts and serve at once, with rice and a plain stir-fried vegetable.
Gong Bao Ji Ding (Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken)
Serves 2 · 1 platter (2 as a main with rice, 4 as part of a Chinese meal) · 28 min total
Chicken and marinade
- 2 boneless chicken breasts, with or without skin (about 2/3 lb total)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or medium-dry sherry)
- 1 1/2 tsp potato starch (or 2 1/4 tsp cornstarch)
- 1 tbsp water
Sauce
- 3 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp potato starch (or 1 1/8 tsp cornstarch)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 3 tsp Chinkiang (Chinese black) vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chicken stock or water
Stir-fry
- 3 garlic cloves and an equal amount of fresh ginger
- 5 scallions, white parts only
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- A generous handful of dried red chiles (at least 10), preferably Sichuanese
- 1 tsp whole Sichuan pepper
- 2/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
Method
- Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch strips, then into small cubes. Mix in the salt, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, starch and water and set aside about 15 minutes while you prepare everything else.
- Peel and thinly slice the garlic and ginger. Cut the scallion whites into chunks as long as they are wide, to match the chicken. Snip the chiles in half or into 2-inch pieces and shake out as many seeds as you can (wear gloves).
- Stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Heat a wok over high heat, add the peanut oil and heat until it shimmers but does not smoke. Add the chiles and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry 10 to 15 seconds, until the chiles are crisp and darkening and the oil smells spicy. Pull the wok off the heat for a moment if they start to burn.
- Add the chicken and stir-fry over high heat, stirring constantly. As soon as the cubes separate, about 1 minute, add the garlic, ginger and scallions and keep stir-frying 2 to 3 minutes more, until fragrant and the largest cube reads 165°F.
- Stir the sauce, pour it in and toss about 30 seconds, until it turns thick and shiny.
- Stir in the peanuts and serve at once, with rice and a plain stir-fried vegetable.
Adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop, Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes Personally Gathered in the Chinese Province of Sichuan (W.W. Norton, 2001), "Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken With Peanuts," as printed by NPR (May 2, 2008). We follow it as written: about 2/3 lb chicken breast, 3 garlic cloves and an equal amount of ginger, 5 scallion whites, at least 10 dried chiles, 1 tsp whole Sichuan pepper, 2/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, the marinade and the sweet-sour sauce with Chinkiang vinegar, and the order: chiles and pepper first, chicken next, aromatics once the cubes separate, sauce, then peanuts. Dunlop gives no minutes; the marinating time, the stir-frying times and the 165°F check are ours. NPR. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Dunlop's variations: pork, shrimp or prawns instead of chicken, and cashews for a grander version, though she calls peanuts more traditional.
- Have everything cut and mixed before the wok goes on; the whole cook takes under 5 minutes.
- Taste the sauce with a fingertip before cooking: it should already taste sweet and sour.
- Dried chiles are for flavor; most cooks eat around them.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The dish is named after Ding Baozhen's title, gong bao. Documented: Dunlop (NPR) and Wikipedia.
- It was invented in Sichuan. Disputed: Dunlop gives three origin stories, one of them Guizhou, Ding's home province; Wikipedia notes that some literature lists Guizhou as the origin.
- It was renamed during the Cultural Revolution. Documented as Dunlop's account (NPR); Wikipedia repeats it but marks it as needing a citation.
- Real kung pao is mala, numbing and hot. Disputed: Dunlop describes a light sweet-sour sauce with only a trace of Sichuan pepper; Wikipedia says it is not in the mala flavor profile. Many restaurant versions use much more pepper.
- Kung pao always has peanuts. Folklore: Made With Lau says the Guizhou version has no peanuts; Dunlop allows cashews.
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