Kung Pao Chicken

Our family loves Chinese food and spicy food so Kung Pao is a favorite. James made it a few times before leaving for a mission to Guatemala. Unfortunately I don't know what happened to the recipe he used so when we got in the mood for it I had to search online. I found a couple that looked promising so I combined, adapted and added a touch or two of my own and came up with a version my family really enjoyed!

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Marinade:

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce*
4 Tablespoon white cooking wine
2 Tablespoon rice vinegar

4-5 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Sauce:

4 Tablespoons soy sauce*
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white cooking wine
1 Tablespoon hot chili paste
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4 green onions chopped

1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
dried red pepper pods

Directions:
Mix the ingredients for the marinade and add the chicken, mix well to cover thoroughly cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes.
While chicken is marinating mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
Lift from marinade with a slotted spoon, place in a medium size bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch stirring until a thin paste covers the chicken.
Heat the oil in a wok** or sturdy pot, add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Remove chicken from pot. The cornstarch mixture may stick to the pot in some places, scrape off excess and discard, some will incorporate into sauce.
Add sauce ingredients to hot pot and heat to a slow simmer. Add chicken back into the sauce mixture and mix well to coat. Add peanuts and red pepper pods to taste.
Serve over hot oriental noodles or rice.

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Tips and Hints

• I am not a big fan of sesame oil, if you like it you could replace the olive oil and use only sesame.

• Be careful with the red pepper pods. Some tend to be very hot and a few can go a long way.

• You can get the small pods at an asian specialty store and they can be a bit pricey. I've seen some that are a bit larger in most grocery stores in the Mexican section for a much better price.

• *LaChoy is a gluten free soy sauce.  There are others out there as well, just make sure you keep looking.

** For best results use a real wok.  Trust me, it makes a huge difference

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