This kung pao chicken delivers restaurant-quality flavour with a perfectly balanced sauce that combines savoury, sweet, and sour notes with the distinctive numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper. The key is coating the chicken first, then building the sauce in the wok with aromatics and chillies before reducing it to a thick, glossy syrup.
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Mix cornflour and soy sauce in a small bowl until cornflour is dissolved. Then mix in remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT water.
Pour 1.5 tbsp Sauce over chicken. Toss to coat, set aside for 10 - 20 minutes.
Add water into remaining Sauce.
Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add chicken, cook until it turns white, then add the white part of the green onions. Cook until chicken is cooked through - about 2 minutes.
Add Sauce and Sichuan pepper. Bring to simmer, mixing constantly, until almost all the sauce reduces to a thick syrup.
Just before the end, mix through peanuts and green part of the green onions. Also check spiciness - add more Sichuan pepper if you can handle the heat!
Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a wok over medium heat; add a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.
wok
Yes, but chicken thigh stays more tender. If using breast, cut smaller pieces and watch closely—it cooks through in about 2 minutes and can dry out quickly.
The recipe works with ground Sichuan peppercorns (as the creator uses). Whole peppercorns can be ground at home. Regular black pepper is not a substitute—it lacks the numbing quality.
Heat comes from dried chillies (6–10, seeds removed) and Sichuan pepper. Start with 6 chillies and 1.5 tsp Sichuan pepper, then adjust to taste before serving.
Cook completely, store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a wok over medium heat; the sauce may thicken further as it cools, so add a splash of water if needed.
A wok is ideal for high-heat stir frying and sauce reduction, but a large skillet works if you cook in batches and manage heat carefully.
