By Clarissa Wei for Food Network Kitchen. Clarissa Wei is a freelance journalist based in Taipei.
Kung Pao chicken is Chinese-style stir-fried chicken cubes with dried chilli peppers. The Sichuanese version is a tad more complex, seasoned with Chinese peppercorns and a large heap of dried chilli peppers. The American rendition stays true to most of the original ingredients, but the flavour profile is significantly sweeter and will sometimes include bell peppers.
What Does Kung Pao Chicken Taste Like?
Americanised Kung Pao Chicken is savoury and sweet with a mild spicy kick. The peanuts really bring together the dish and give it a rounded, nutty flavour.
What is in Kung Pao Chicken?
The building blocks of Kung Pao Chicken are chunks of boneless chicken, chilli peppers, and peanuts. A bit of soy sauce adds a necessary punch of salinity and scallions give it a nice zing. Corn starch is added to give everything a glossy and smooth texture. The dish is always served with a side of white rice.
What Is Kung Pao Sauce Made Of?
It depends a lot on the recipe, but generally speaking, it’s a combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Corn starch can be used as a thickener, though that’s optional. Kung Pao sauce can be used on any protein, from chicken to shrimp to tofu.
What is the Difference Between Kung Pao Chicken and General Tso's Chicken?
Kung Pao chicken and General Tso’s chicken are similar in that they are both chicken-based dishes with a hint of chilli, but the primary difference is that latter is deep-fried and coated with a syrupy sweet and sour sauce, and the former is coated with a gentle, more balanced sauce.
Kung Pao Recipes
Molly Yeh’s simple kung pao recipe uses ground Sichuan peppercorns, which gives the dish a nice zing.
The classic Kung Pao has peanuts, but in this recipe, Jet Tila substitutes cashews for their crunch and flavour. A pinch of ground Szechuan peppercorn powder is traditional. Add it if you have it, but you'll be fine without it! Also you can substitute any meat, seafood, or tofu for the prawns.
Here’s an easy way to dress snow peas: stir-fry them and add a kung pao sauce for a kick of flavour.
This sweet and spicy vegetarian dish proves once more that cauliflower is king. Originally from Sichuan province but popular in other parts of China, as well as in Chinese-American restaurants, kung pao chicken is traditionally a stir-fry. Here, the cauliflower is deep-fried for a light and crispy texture that pairs perfectly with the dish’s signature chiles and peanuts.
