Gong bao chicken

Name: Gong bao chicken
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 4 clove garlic, thinly sliced; 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine; 7 spring onions, white parts only, cut on a diagonal; 600 g/1 lb 5 oz chicken breast, cut into small cubes; 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce; 2 teaspoons rice vinegar; 3 teaspoons sesame oil; 6 teaspoons black Chinese vinegar; 2 tablespoons groundnut oil; 3 tablespoons chicken stock; 5 cm/2 inch piece of root ginger, thinly sliced using a vegetable peeler; 1 teaspoon caster sugar; 2 teaspoons light soy sauce; 1½ teaspoons potato flour; 5 teaspoons light soy sauce; 1½ tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns; steamed rice, to serve; 70 g/2½ oz cashew nuts; 6–30 Sichuan dried chillies

Preparation info

Serves
2

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Let's Eat

By Tom Parker Bowles

Published 2013

About

This Sichuan dish is better known, in the States at least, as kung pao chicken. But the versions I’ve tried are pretty drab, relying on peanuts and peppers rather than the elegant balance of ingredients that characterises the original. The key is to chop the chicken into similar-sized small cubes, so it cooks quickly and evenly.

Ingredients

600 g/1 lb 5 oz chicken breast, cut into small cubes
2

Asia
China
Starter
Main course

Method

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Add the chicken, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.

Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl or jug. Set aside.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, heat the groundnut oil in a wo