{"id":5256,"date":"2017-01-24T19:51:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T19:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/uncategorized\/copy-of-peri-peri-chicken\/"},"modified":"2017-02-21T13:35:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T13:35:47","slug":"kung-pao-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/recipe\/kung-pao-chicken\/","title":{"rendered":"Kung Pao Chicken"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p class=\"back-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/winter-2017\/travel-the-world-through-your-kitchen\/\">Back to Food Article<\/a><\/p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5448\" src=\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Chinese-CookbookKung-Pao-chicken-700.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Chinese-CookbookKung-Pao-chicken-700.jpg 700w, https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Chinese-CookbookKung-Pao-chicken-700-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"recipe-card\">\nAh, yes, this favorite has traveled many years and long distances, and arrived on our plates in myriad variations. Kung Pao Chicken\u2014or Gong Bao Ji Ding\u2014is named after a Gongbao (palace guard) from the Qing dynasty named Ding Baozhen, who invented the dish in Sichuan.<\/p>\n<p>Using the freshly ground Sichuan peppercorns, plus sliced scallions, peanuts, dried red Sichuan chile peppers, and chicken, Ding managed to impress his house guests despite his limited resources after being ousted as a Shandong province official.<\/p>\n<p>Kung Pao Chicken fits within hu la wei xing, a Chinese cooking style that is characterized by scorched chilies. If you like your chicken spicy, use 1 heaping tablespoon of chili bean paste. Serve this dish with steamed rice.<\/p>\n<h3>Kung Pao Chicken<\/h3>\n<p>For Bowl One:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 pound skinless chicken breast, diced into \u00bd-inch cubes<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon potato starch<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon sea salt<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon salt<\/li>\n<li>1 heaping tablespoon fermented chili bean paste (optional)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For Bowl Two:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 tablespoon potato starch<\/li>\n<li>3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon sugar<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon sea salt<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon soy sauce<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar or balsamic vinegar<\/li>\n<li>1 large scallion or leek, white and green parts, chopped\n(the quantity depends on your taste)<\/li>\n<li>2 red bell peppers, diced<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd cup roasted skinless peanuts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For The Wok:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>4 tablespoons peanut oil<\/li>\n<li>2 dried red chile peppers<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>TO MAKE BOWL ONE<\/h4>\n<p>In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, cooking wine, potato starch, salt, and chili bean paste (if using). Toss to thoroughly coat the chicken pieces. Set aside.<\/p>\n<h4>TO MAKE BOWL TWO<\/h4>\n<p>In a large bowl, add the potato starch and 2 tablespoons of cold water and stir to combine. Add the garlic, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, and stir until blended. Add the scallion, sweet red peppers, and peanuts.<\/p>\n<h4>TO COOK IN THE WOK<\/h4>\n<p>In a wok over high heat, heat the peanut oil until it shimmers. Stir-fry the chile peppers and Sichuan peppercorns until fra- grant, about 15 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Add the chicken mixture from bowl one and stir-fry for about 1 minute, keeping the chicken pieces separated so they brown evenly on all sides.<\/p>\n<p>Add the mixture from bowl two and stir-fry for 1 more minute until cooked. Be sure not to overcook the chicken.<\/p>\n<p>Transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot.<\/p>\n<p><strong>INGREDIENT TIP<\/strong>: Use freshly wok-fried peanuts if available. I like to buy peanuts already roasted, then toss them in the wok for 1 to 2 minutes to ensure a fresh roasted flavor. Also, sugar is essential for the balance of flavors. The recipe I learned uses 1 tablespoon of sugar. I reduced the amount from 1 tablespoon to 1 teaspoon here, but feel free to increase the amount if you prefer a sweeter Kung Pao Chicken.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-credit\">From <em>Family Style Chinese Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from My Culinary Journey Through China (Rockridge Press). Copyright 2016. Excerpted by permission of Rockridge Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"back-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/winter-2017\/travel-the-world-through-your-kitchen\/\" target=\"_blank\">Back to Food Article<\/a><\/p><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>View recipe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipe","category-winter-2017-recipe"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5256"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5451,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions\/5451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}