Chicken, peanut & celery stir fry (aka Kung Pao Chicken)
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
500g chicken breast, diced to about a 2-3cm dice
1 Tbls cornflour
1.5 tsp bi carb soda
2 Tbls shaoxing wine
3 Tbls neutral oil
Scant 1/2 cup peanuts
6 dried chilies
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
6 celery stalks, sliced on an angle about 1cm thick, or about 2 cups
1/4 cup water
3 Tbls soy sauce
2 tsp. caster sugar
1 Tbls rice wine vinegar or Chinkiang black vinegar
1 tsp. lao gan ma or your favourite chili crunch
To serve:
Steamed white rice
Method:
Firstly, start by marinating your chicken by placing it in a bowl with the bi-carb soda, shaoxing wine and corn flour. Toss together and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
In a small dish combine the soy sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and set aside to add in later.
To cook the stir fry, add the neutral oil to a saucepan and place over high heat. Add in the peanuts and dried chilis and fry them in the oil until golden and the chilis get a bit darker and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the pan and set aside, leaving the oil in the pan.
Add the chicken into the hot oil in one even layer, leave it to brown on each side before stirring, approximately 1-2 minutes. Once you have browned all the chicken, add the garlic and sliced celery and cook for just about 2 minutes.
Once the celery turns bright green and begins to soften add in the dish of reserved sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes until everything is coated, glossy and thickened. Stir through 1 tsp. of Lao Gan Ma or chili crisp at the end and then taste and add a bit more if you want something spicy.
Serve with steamed rice.
As noted in my substack, this would traditionally have a little ginger and lots of onion, maybe some chopped peppers instead of celery in it but its also highly adaptable, as you can see by my recipe. Work with what you’ve got!
