Thinking of starting a kitchen club? Kung Pao Chicken has become a favourite in our family as well as our neighbours and is the perfect kick off recipe. It has been adapted from one posted by Tony Rosenfeld in Fine Cooking and is best made just before dinner.
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Stir Fry Ingredients:
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 3 green onions thinly sliced separate white from green
- 2 sweet bell peppers cut into chunks
- 3 celery stalks cut in slices
- 1/4 cup sherry
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts
Instructions
- Chop vegetables and add to one bowl: the peppers, celery, ginger and white parts of green onions. Green parts of the onion can be added later as a garnish.
- In a glass measuring cup whisk together chicken broth, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, 1 T corn starch, sesame oil and sugar with a fork and set aside.
- In a large bowl or ziplock bag toss chicken with 1/4 cup cornstarch, salt and pepper.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of the canola oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat until hot. Add chicken with tongs, shaking off any excess corn starch. Cook chicken until lightly browned on most sides. Approximately 2-4 minutes per side depending on size of your pan and heat. Working in 2 batches also helps to not crowd the chicken so it browns easily.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon of canola oil and cook vegetables constantly stirring for 1 minute.
- Add the sherry and stir scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Whisk sauce ingredients one more time and add to skillet. (If taking home or preparing before dinner then at this point turn off the heat and refrigerate until 15 minutes before dinner.)
- Stir in sauce and cook until it thickens. Check the chicken to make sure it is no longer pink inside. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve – 10 minutes.
- Serve with sticky rice and sprinkle with green onions and peanuts.
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The recipe was easy to make and delicious! I mixed the cauliflower into the rice for some extra, sneaky vegetables and it worked.
Thanks for the help and suggestion!