Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken is probably my most ordered dish in/from a Chinese restaurant. I didn't quite bother figuring out the recipe because it was easy to order in, of course. I'll take this opportunity to shamelessly plug in Zomato Order here. Anyway, I looked a few recipes and made my own version of Kung Pao Chicken. I've learned that shallow fried bite sized chicken can be tossed in a concoction of a couple of sauces and it turns into a quick "Chinese" dish. That's exactly what I did here. I did remember two things from restaurant Kung Pao dishes distinctly - dried red chillies and peanuts.

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts - bite size cuts
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 dried red chillies
1 onion chopped
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
Handful of peanuts
Spring onions to garnish

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken in the ginger-garlic paste for a couple of hours or overnight.
2. Shallow fry the chicken and keep aside.
3. Heat sesame oil, saute the red chillies, add onions and saute.
4. Add all the sauces and sugar, and bring to a boil.
4. Toss the chicken in and mix well.
5. Add peanuts and garnish with spring onions.

If you want a gravy version, add 2 tbsp corn flour mixed in water and 1/4 cup chicken stock and let it bubble before you add the garnish. I chose not to add vegetables, but you could add bell peppers, mushrooms and broccoli too.

What's best about Chinese food is that it makes for great leftovers!

What I did with leftover Kung Pao Chicken was - heated some oil and sauted onions and mushrooms in it. Scrambled 4 eggs in there, and mixed leftover rice into it. Then added soy, fish sauce, chilli sauce. Shredded the chicken and tossed it in and garnished with spring onions and peanuts. Kung Pao Fried Rice!