Chinese: Chicken Chunks with Peanuts in Spicy Sauce
Submitted by ktyska
Crispy chicken chunks coated in water chestnut flour, deep-fried golden, then tossed with roasted peanuts in a spicy sauce of chili paste, dark soy, sesame oil, and Chinese red vinegar. Restaurant-quality kung pao at home.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
60 minThis is not the gloopy, overly sweet kung pao you get from the corner takeout. This is the real thing.
Chicken breast chunks get coated in a featherlight egg white and water chestnut flour batter, then deep-fried until shatteringly crisp.
The sauce is built separately with dark soy, Chinese red vinegar, chili paste, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and a splash of dry sherry. It’s layered, complex, and hits every part of your palate.
Raw peanuts get fried to a golden tan in the same oil, and everything comes together in the last minute. Sauce, chicken, peanuts, scallions. Toss and serve immediately.
Chef Tips
- Water chestnut flour gives a lighter, crispier coating than regular cornstarch. It’s worth seeking out at Asian grocery stores, but cornstarch works as a substitute.
- Beat the egg white batter with a single chopstick, not a whisk. You want it smooth, not foamy.
- Fry no more than 8 chicken chunks at a time. Overcrowding drops the oil temperature and you get soggy instead of crispy.
- Fry the peanuts over medium heat and watch them carefully. They go from golden to burnt in seconds, and they’ll keep browning after you pull them out.
- Add the chicken to the sauce at the very last minute. If it sits in the sauce, the coating goes soft.
Ingredients
Directions
CORNSTARCH PASTE Preparation: Trim ends off green onions and cut light green and white part into 1” sections.
Mix all other sauce ingredients in 2-quart saucepan.
Reserve.
Pull skin off breasts, then pull chicken meat from bones.
Slice meat into 1” strips, then crosswise to make 1” chunks.
In bowl large enough to hold chicken, add egg white to water chestnut flour.
Beat mixture with a single chopstick (not an egg beater or whisk).
Stir chicken pieces into egg mixture to coat thoroughly.
Marinate 5 minutes. Note: water chestnut flour gives a lighter crust than cornstarch, though the latter may be substituted.
Deep-frying: Heat cooking oil in wok or deep-fryer to medium heat (you’ll need more oil for deep-fryer).
Fry peanuts until they are a light tan color; if a test peanut browns quickly, turn down heat.
Remove peanuts with strainer or slotted spoon; drain on paper towel or paper bag.
Reserve.
Turn up heat slightly for chicken.
Test a chunk first: chicken should raise to surface immediately and brown in about 2 minutes.
Deep-fry coated chicken chunks until golden brown.
Deep-fry no more than 8 chunks at a time.
Use long chopsticks or spatula to keep pieces separate while they are frying.
Remove with long chopsticks or slotted spoon.
Reserve.
Sauce: While deep-frying chicken, heat sauce to simmer.
Add green onions and peanuts about a minute before serving.
At the last minute, add chicken pieces to sauce, mix quickly and serve.
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