Gong Bao Ji Ding (Sichuan Kung Pow Chicken)
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
Editor’s Note: This recipe is excerpted from the upcoming second volume of my book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. I hope you enjoy it. You can order the first book here or on Amazon, and sign up for The Food Lab Newsletter for news about the second book, new recipes and videos, and live events.
For those of you keeping score at home (I know you’re out there), yes, this is the third recipe for kung pao chicken that I’ve published here on Serious Eats in the last seven years. The first version was funky and fiery with fermented chili bean paste, chicken thighs, and leeks. The second version was a decidedly milder version made with bell peppers and celery, just like at those Upper West Side Chinese takeout joints. The version I’m sharing today is based upon the kung pao chicken I tasted at the source in Chengdu: a simpler yet more nuanced version than either, and a near-perfect weeknight dish.
By the way, you can catch a quick video of me cooking this dish here on my YouTube channel.
Published at Wed, 30 Aug 2017 10:25:00 +0000
