A local Chinese restaurant used to have the best Kung Pao Chicken but shortly before they moved to their new location, they changed ownership and the quality fell off a cliff. I went back a few times over the years but the experience only left me disappointed. I searched for years for a decent version of this dish with no luck. Every Chinese place I tried was maybe ok at best if they had Kung Pao at all. So I began to search the internet for recipes that would satisfy this never ending craving. I tried a good number of them until I found just one that came sort of close. I worked on adapting this recipe until I came up with this final one. In many ways it is superior to the restaurant I used to go to.
3-5 Carrots
3-5 celery stalks
1 medium onion
1 can of water chestnuts whole cut into quarters
2 chicken breasts cut into cubes
¼ cup of cocktail peanuts
Prep ahead of time involves cutting everything into bite sized pieces. The trick with Chinese stir-fry is uniform pieces. (I like to eat with chop sticks so it helps with eating as well)
Sauce
¼ cup Soy Sauce
4-5 cloves garlic (grated)
2 tablespoons grated ginger
¼ cup of Hoisin sauce
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra strength vinegar (just double the amount with white vinegar)
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Optional heat: Hot Oil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic chili sauce or cayenne pepper. More if you like heat, less or none if you don’t. Which one really doesn’t matter. I use both hot oil and garlic chili sauce in mine and really like spicy food.
Add all the sauce ingredients into a sauce pan and heat on low until the sugar dissolves and begins to bubble then set aside. Thicken with a little corn starch if you so desire.
Cook chicken in a fry pan and set aside.
In a wok or fry pan on high heat (get it good and hot) spray with some Pam and toss the peanuts until they slightly brown on the edges (this brings out their flavor) then remove from pan (we’ll add to dish at the end). Add the celery and carrots to the hot pan and cover. Cook for a few minutes occasionally stirring. Add the onions, again stir and cover for a couple minutes. Add the cooked chicken, water chestnuts and sauce and stir together. Cook for about one more minute and pour into a serving dish and top with the peanuts.
The trick is to cook the carrots and celery just enough and not overcook the onions so that they are still a little crunchy. What you should end up with is a classic Chinese dish that will be as good as anything you can order at a restaurant but made at home. This way it is also low in fat and actually good for you.
