宫保鸡丁
Pinyin: gōngbǎojīdīng
Common English name: 'Kung Pao chicken'
I’m choosing to start this section by writing about 宫保鸡丁 simply because it’s always been one of my personal favorite dishes in Chinese cuisine. In my opinion, you can rarely go wrong when ordering this dish.
Many not-so-great restaurants still manage to throw together a decent 宫保鸡丁 and if a restaurant’s 宫保鸡丁 isn’t good, you may be hard-pressed to find anything decent on the menu at all. In fact, I often used 宫保鸡丁 as a kind of gauge to judge the overall quality of restaurant. All things considered, if a restaurant makes a top-notch 宫保鸡丁 it’s going to rank high in my eyes.
So, what is 宫保鸡丁? As you might expect, the central ingredient in 宫保鸡丁 is chicken, which has been diced into small cubes. Because the dish exists in so many areas throughout China, it will be cooked in slightly varying ways depending on where you are. The degree of 辣 (là: spiciness) may vary, and the dish will sometimes include 花椒 (huājiāo: Chinese prickly ash), and sometimes not. Also, more expensive restaurants will include a higher proportion of better ingredients, while cheaper eateries may limit or exclude certain ingredients. The standard plate of 宫保鸡丁 in China will have peanuts, however I’ve had several low-end renditions where they leave out the peanuts entirely. In my experience, the most common central ingredients to find in 宫保鸡丁 besides chicken are spring onions, chili peppers, and peanuts.
As an interesting aside, you may also find this dish labelled “宫爆鸡丁” in China. This is actually an incorrect name given to the dish by people who mistake the “保” for “爆” because of the 爆炒 (bàochǎo: stir fry) method used in its preparation.
Here is a great recipe for 宫保鸡丁. To read more about this dish, follow this link.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup peanuts
8-10 dried red chili peppers, deseeded
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
3 tablespoons oil (peanut and soybean oil are the most commonly used cooking oils in China)
3 slices fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
Marinade:
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon oil
Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black vinegar (Best if you can find black Chinese cooking vinegar)
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon corn starch
Cooking instructions:
- Mix the ingredients for the marinade togetherRinse the chicken breast, then pat dry. Cut into small cubes and marinate for 20-30 minutes
- Mix the ingredients for the sauce and set aside for later
- Heat up your wok (*see note). Once it is heated, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add cubed chicken and stir fry. Take the chicken out when it is about halfway to being fully cooked.
- Clean your wok. Add 2 tablespoons oil and wait until it’s heated (you’ll know when it starts smoking).
- Throw in your ginger and garlic, making sure to stir them. Wait a moment (about 3-4 seconds or until the smell of ginger and garlic hits you) and then throw in the chili peppers.
- Once you start smelling the chili peppers as well (again, after about 3-4 seconds), add the half-cooked chicken cubes.
- Stir a few times before adding your peanuts. Continue to stir fry.
- Add your sauce. Stir until everything is mixed together and covered with sauce.
- Throw in the chopped spring onions. Stir a few more times.
- Remove from wok; you’re good to go!
(*Note:
When cooking Chinese stir-fried dishes, you want to have your wok
heated up to a very high heat. Thus it’s important to be attentive at
all times. You want to be continuously stirring the ingredients around and
make sure not to leave things sitting in the wok, lest they overcook or
burn.)