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Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken hails from the Szechuan region of china and is a slightly sweet and sour dish with loads of spice. Though you can make it as mild or hot as you like, it really is at it’s best when nice and spicy. Ideally it uses Szechuan or rose peppers rather than black pepper but it is really hard to get so I used black pepper instead.

This is far nicer than the one you get in many Chinese restaurants which many add chilli to sweet and sour sauce and call it Kung Po. Unfortunately this means most have ridiculous amounts of sugar in them and so are seriously bad for you and your family. Plus it would be expensive to feed a family unlike my recipe which works out around €7 for 4 portions.

MAKE IT WITH PRAWNS

Substitute the chicken with prawns and add them when you add the veggies. 6 – 10 prawns per portion will be grand.

WATCH OUR QUICK VIDEO TO HELP YOU MAKE THIS DISH & PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

5/5

4 adults or 2 adults and 4 kids

20 minutes preparation, 15 minutes cooking

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1 pepper or half a read and half a yellow

4 spring onions

1 red chilli use 2 or 3 if you like it really hot as the dish should be

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or 1 tbsp puree

1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped or 1 tbsp paste

THE MARINADE

1 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine (not vinegar) or 1 tbsp water

1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil not olive or rapeseed

2 tsp coarse ground black pepper

THE SAUCE

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

75 ml water

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

75g salted peanuts (optional)

Instructions

Place all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and mix well so the cornflour dissolves

Slice the chicken in half lengthwise then cut into cubes. Look at the quick video above to see just how to do this and the size you want them

Place the chicken pieces in the marinade, mix well then place in your fridge until needed.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl until the cornflour dissolves and set to one side

Cut all the veg into cubes and slice the chilli. See the short video above to see the correct sizes

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil in a wok or non stick pan. Olive oil won't work as it doesn't get hot enough. Rapeseed will work if you need to use it

When the pan is nice and hot add the chicken and cook for 4 minutes

Remove the chicken from the pan or wok and place in a bowl until needed

Clean the wok or pan then add 2 tbsp of oil then add the veg when nice and hot

Cook for 2 minutes then add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes, add the sauce and cook for 1 - 2 minutes more then add the peanuts if using them ad give it one last stir

Taste and serve if happy. It may need a little more water to balance the flavours

Categories: Chicken Chinese Fillet Inner Fillets Main Course

- Geraldine McCormick
- 24th March 2017
Reply
Made this last night and it was delicious everyone loved it. I only used less than a tablespoon of sugar as I didn’t want it too sweet. The flavours were amazing.
- swad12345
- 28th March 2017
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Made this Saturday night, doubled the sauce & it was ???????? like all the others I’ve tried this is most definetly a keeper cheers Liam ?
- Aoife
- 29th March 2017
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What can I say Liam yet another huge hit in this house thanks for sharing ?
- Izzabelle9
- 1st April 2017
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Husband tells me he’s not keen on peppers in the recipes , what can I use instesd? Personally I love them shame!
1. - Liam Boland - BiaMaith Chef
  - 2nd April 2017
  Reply
  You can use any veg you like really. Small broccoli florets, baby corn, green beans, mange tout, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, pok choi, chinese cabbage, kale, butternut squash, sweet potato etc.
  The beauty about making food at home yourself is you can adapt any recipe to suit your own tastes 🙂
- Izzabelle9
- 2nd April 2017
Reply
Thank you for the ideas just couldn’t get my head round not liking peppers been together 30yrs .Ah well I suppose tastes change as you get older! Looking forward to trying more recipes.
- Rebecca
- 5th April 2017
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Made this dish last night. Super easy to make and the chicken was so tender as i marinated it overnight. Great for kids too as not too hot. Another successful receipe! thanks Liam
- Tom Moore
- 1st May 2018
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Saved the Bia Maith Fakeaway recipes on my F/B and the meals are absolutely delicious. The family could eat the Kung Pao meal every day. Yum.
- Ann
- 12th September 2019
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I made this today, was delicious. I added carrot matchsticks, mangetout, bamboo shoots, red pepper and water chestnuts. Thanks Liam for the recipe