Gong bao chicken

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

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
Main course
Starter

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