Chinese Gong Bao Chicken (Kung Pao) — Sichuan Original

Ingredients

• For the chicken and marinade
• 500 g boneless chicken thighs, skin removed, diced into 2 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch, enough to lightly coat, not crust
• For the wok
• 8–10 dried red chilies, left whole or snipped, seeds partially shaken out
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, whole
• 3 scallions, white and pale-green parts cut into 2 cm pieces
• 100 g roasted peanuts, lightly toasted before service, not cooked in the wok
• 3 tbsp neutral oil, high smoke-point
• For the sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinkiang (black) vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water

Method

1. 1
   Combine the diced chicken thigh with light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and cornstarch. Toss to coat lightly — the coating should be a thin film, not a visible crust. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. The chicken is ready when it feels slightly tacky and the marinade has been absorbed.
2. 2
   Mix the sauce ingredients — light soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, and the cornstarch slurry — in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. The sauce should smell sharply sour-sweet before it enters the wok; if the vinegar note is absent, the dish cannot recover it later. This is where the dish lives or dies: omitting or reducing the vinegar removes the defining lychee-like sour balance and reduces gong bao to generic spicy chicken.
3. 3
   Heat a wok over high heat until a drop of water vaporises on contact. Add the oil and, working immediately, add the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry, stirring constantly, until the chilies darken to a deep brick-red and the oil carries a toasted, fragrant chili aroma — 20 to 30 seconds. Do not allow the chilies to blacken.
4. 4
   Add the marinated chicken in a single layer. Leave undisturbed for 30 seconds to sear, then stir-fry vigorously until the pieces are opaque on all surfaces and just cooked through. The chicken is done when it has lost all translucency at the centre and the exterior shows light golden colour.
5. 5
   Add the scallion pieces — cut to match the 2 cm dice of the chicken — and stir-fry for 20 seconds until just softened.
6. 6
   Pour the prepared sauce into the wok. Toss constantly; the sauce will thicken within 30 to 45 seconds as the cornstarch cooks and the liquid reduces to a glossy coating that clings to each piece of chicken. The wok is ready when no pooled liquid remains on the base.
7. 7
   Remove from heat. Add the pre-toasted peanuts and fold through once. The peanuts must not be cooked in the wok — heat destroys their crunch. They should remain audibly crisp when bitten.