Kung Pao Chicken

A fresh and flavorful dish from the Szechuan cuisine is Kung Pao Chicken. Its a wonderful combination of soft chicken slices, peanuts and Szechuan peppercorns. Szechuan peppercorns gives an excellent fragrance to this dish. Do try this mouth watering meal at your home.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ‏chicken boneless, cut into slices
• 2 ‏scallions, cut white and green part separately
• 2 tablespoons ‏sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons ‏vegetable oil
• 8-10 ‏dried red chili peppers
• 1 tablespoon ‏garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ‏ginger, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ‏soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ‏apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ‏sugar
• 1 tablespoon ‏corn starch
• 1/4 cup ‏water
• 1 teaspoon ‏ground Szechuan pepper
• 2 ‏red/green pepper, diced (optional)
• 1/2 cup ‏dry unsalted peanuts

FOR MARINADE

• 1 tablespoon ‏apple juice
• 1 tablespoon ‏rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon ‏water
• 2 tablespoons ‏soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons ‏cornstarch

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine chicken with all the marinade ingredients. Toss to coat and set aside for 10 min.
2. In another bowl add vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ground pepper, cornstarch and sugar. Mix well and set it aside.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a wok . Fry the peanuts with constant stirring until peanuts turn golden. Transfer peanuts on paper towel so that the excess oil is absorbed by the towel.
4. Add the dried red chili and stir fry for 30-60 sec. Now add chicken slices along with garlic, ginger and scallion (only white part) followed by red pepper. Sir fry for 4-5 min on medium heat.
5. Now add the sauce mixture, water and mix well. Cook for another 5 min or until the chicken is fully cooked. Before turning off the heat stir in the peanuts, sprinkle green part of scallion. Serve with the steamed rice.