Kung Pao Chicken

This is a traditional Sichuan recipe supposedly named after a governor of Sichuan province. In any Chinese restaurant this dish would be definitely in the menu. This dish is also my favorite as well as my husband's. I would not say this is an easy-to-make recipe, but since I used ready made Kung Pao sauce it didn't take me much time to prepare this dish. If you couldn't get ready made sauce you could also prepare Kung pao sauce ahead using some soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, sugar, cornstarch and chilli sauce.

Things you'll need:
Chicken - 1/2 lb
Vegetables of your choice (cubed) - 2 cups (I used zucchini and baby corn)
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
corn starch - 1 tbsp
ginger - 1/2 inch piece (minced)
garlic - 2 (minced)
Spring onion - 2 (chopped)
red chillis -  3
Roasted peanuts - handful
Kung Pao sauce - 2 tbsp
egg - 1
Oil - for frying the chicken

Yield - 2 - 3 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Clean and cube the chicken. Marinade the chicken with 2 tsps  soy sauce, egg, and 2 tsps corn starch. Keep aside for 10-15 mins. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the chicken pieces. Drain them and place them in a bowl lined with a tissue.

Step2:
Heat some oil in a pan (you can use sesame seed oil for better taste) in medium heat, add the red chillis, when the chillis are just brown (see that the chillis are not burned). Add the ginger and garlic and the vegetables. saute the vegetables until they are almost done. Don't cover them while cooking, the vegetables should be crisp.

Step3:
Add the soy sauce, Kung Pao sauce, little salt (go easy on the salt since soy sauce has salt in it), and 1/2 cup water. Stir well and add the chicken  and the peanuts. Add the corn starch and stir quickly to thicken the sauce. Garnish with spring onions.

Serve with stir fry noodles or fried rice.

This recipe can be substituted exclusively with vegetables.