Kung Pao Chicken

The Olympics only come around every four years but luckily, we can all take the gold any night of the week with an authentic Chinese chicken dish, just tender pieces of chicken breast stir-fried in a mahogany-colored sauce made with ingredients easily found in an everyday kitchen plus Sichuan peppercorns.

Approachable Homestyle Chinese, Better Than Takeout. Mere Minutes to the Table in One Skillet. An Easy, Healthy Meal. Another Quick Supper, a Kitchen Parade Specialty. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Perfect When Cooking for One or Two. Easy DIY. Low Carb. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. So Good!!

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Going for the Gold.

Olympians may dream of fast finish lines and stirring national anthems. But me, after making this authentic kung pao chicken for last week's opening of the summer Olympics, I was dreaming of more kung pao chicken. Seriously, I couldn't wait to make it again and so I did, just three days later.

The recipe comes from the food blog Appetite for China (sorry, no longer online) by Diana Kuan, a food writer who is "eating, traveling and writing her way across China". I was taken by the simplifications Diana made to her own recipe, how she made an authentic Chinese dish accessible in my Western kitchen. The sauce is a many-layered mahogany, sleek and pungent. The chunks of chicken are moist and tender. The peanuts add crunch and the fresh green onion adds contrast. Here I go again, dreamin' of kung pao chicken ...

All except two of the ingredients are found in or easily substituted by most Western pantries. I found the other two at an international grocery and invested all of $4 for enough for 20-30 kung pao chicken suppers.

The first was a bag of dried red chilis, about an inch long and hot, though not as hot as feared. With the first batch of kung pao chicken, I used only five chilis, with the second (and ever since), ten — both dishes were good, one slightly hotter than the other, neither one tongue-burning.

The second was whole Sichuan peppercorns, which, turns out, aren't actually peppercorns at all but the outer pod of a fruit. Nor are Sichuan peppers marketed in the U.S. as peppercorns, but as fagara or flower pepper (according to Wikipedia) and as dried prickly ash (according to the package from my grocer, who says that it's illegal to import Sichuan peppers into the U.S. so another name is applied). UPDATE The American USDA dropped import bans of Sichuan peppers in 2007 so look for Sichuan peppercorns in the Asian section at good grocery stores.

Since this is a stir-fry, it's important to gather and prep all the ingredients before beginning to cook. Other than that, it's flexible time-wise. The first time I made the chicken, I collected everything a couple of hours beforehand, then cooked the chicken in about 10 minutes. The second time, I prepped and cooked start-to-finish in just 30 minutes and served with Oven-Baked Brown Rice already in the oven.

The Olympics are exciting enough: think about this chicken for a night gathered round the television, taking in the spectacle. Then we can all have our Olympic dreams.

HOW TO PRONOUNCE [kung-pow-chicken] where pow rhymes with cow.

RESOURCES More about Sichuan peppercorns / Sichuan pepper from Wikipedia. Sichuan peppercorn products (affiliate link) at Amazon.com and Penzeys.

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QUICK SUPPER: KUNG PAO CHICKEN

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time-to-table: 30 minutes
Serves 4

LARGE BOWL #1 - MARINADE & CHICKEN

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice wine (or another dry wine)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound (454g) boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed if needed, cut in bite-size pieces

SMALL BOWL #2
• 5 (for mild heat) - 10 small whole dried red chilis (see ALANNA's TIPS)
• 1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns (see TIPS)

SMALL BOWL #3
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 5 - 6 green onions, chopped

SMALL BOWL #4 - SAUCE

• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon chicken stock or water

SMALL BOWL #5
• A handful of dry roasted peanuts

SMALL BOWL #6
• For garnish, green parts from the chopped green onion

FINALLY, START COOKING!
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)

LARGE BOWL #1 Whisk the marinade ingredients. Stir in the chicken pieces as they're cut. Let it rest while prepping the remaining ingredients.

PREP Before starting to cook, prep all the remaining ingredients in bowls, lining them up in order. Once you start cooking, things are gonna move fast!

START COOKING! Heat a wok or a large cast iron skillet on medium high. Add the oil and let it get very hot, it should sizzle when water is flicked off your fingers into the oil.

ADD BOWL #2 (whole chilis and Sichuan peppercorns) and let warm through, stirring often, until the chilis begin to blister and turn dark, about 2 - 3 minutes.

ADD THE CHICKEN Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for about 3 minutes, letting the meat sear slightly each time before turning. During this stage, the oil splatters so be cautious, a splatter guard is useful.

ADD BOWL #3 (garlic, ginger & green onion) and stir fry for about 2 minutes.

ADD BOWL #4 (sauce), stirring in the sauce to coat the chicken. Cook for a minute or two until the sauce thickens slightly.

ADD BOWL#5 (peanuts) and cook for another 1 - 2 minutes.

REMOVE the whole red chilis and the Sichuan peppercorns.

SERVE with BOWL #6 Transfer the chicken to plates and top with Bowl #6 (green onion).

ALANNA's TIPS Red chilis? Look for small bags in an Asian market or substitute dried chile de árbol which, I think, are easily found in grocery stores anymore. A good substitute for Sichuan peppers (although one without the characteristic numbing) is a blend of ground black pepper (especially Tellicherry) and ground coriander. An Asian market will sell bags of small dried red chilis. Otherwise substitute dried chile de árbol or whatever small dried chilies you can find. FYI there's a great primer on dried chili peppers in Chinese cuisine at The Woks of Life.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (assumes 4 servings): 327 Calories; 17g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 65mg Cholesterol; 743mg Sodium; 12g Carb; 2g Fiber; 17g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 7 & future WW points

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Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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