Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kung Pao Chicken)

Gong Bao Ji Ding

With so many cookbooks on my shelf, I decided it was time to make a serious study of them. I admit a bias toward the newer ones, because they've been written with today's cooks in mind and take into account availability of ingredients and modern kitchen equipement. I've been raving so much about Land of Plenty that I thought I should start there. I'll explore both some more unusual recipes as well as her versions of ones commonly found on restaurant menus in the U.S. So... I hope you all don't mind, but it's going to be "Chinese for dinner" for the next few meals.

Gong Bao Chicken was named after a Qing dynasty government official named Ding Baozhen who is said to have particularly enjoyed it. There are many stories, none confirmed, told why he favored this dish ranging from it being a dish he brought with him from his home province to his chef inventing this finely chopped dish because he had bad teeth. (I love the stories behind the names of Chinese dishes. They are often not true — the real origins having been lost to time — yet so often so charming.) This is the first time, however, that I've heard that the dish was considered politically incorrect during the Cultural Revolution due to its association with the old imperial government. How odd!

Having eaten Gong Bao Chicken at many Chinese restaurants, and even made a few variants from various older Chinese cookbooks, I was curious how Fuchsia Dunlop's version would compare. I noticed two major differences. Perhaps the most striking thing about this recipe is the use of Sichuan peppercorns. I have never noticed this flavor in restaurant versions around the U.S., and my older Chinese cookbooks rarely list this spice — perhaps because it was difficult to find at the time, or perhaps because they don't expect an American audience to appreciate its numbing citrusy flavor. The other difference is the lack of hoisin sauce, which is commonly found in Westernized versions of Gong Bao Chicken.

Gong Bao Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)
Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop

2 boneless chicken breasts (about 2/3 lb.)
3 cloves garlic
and an equivalent amount of ginger
5 scallions, white parts only (I take this to mean the stem before it splits into individual "leaves")
2 Tbs peanut oil
a generous handful of dried red chiles (at least 10), preferably Sichuanese
1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
2/3 C. roasted unsalted peanuts

Marinade
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine (or med. dry sherry)
1.5 tsp potato flour (or 2.25 tsp cornstarch)
1 Tbs water

Sauce
3 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp potato flour (or 1 1/8 tsp cornstarch)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
3 tsp Chinkiang vinegar (or Chinese black vinegar)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs chicken stock or water

1) Mix marinade in bowl large enough to hold chicken. Cut chicken as evenly as possible into 1/2 inch strips. Cut strips into small cubes. Mix with marinade ingredients.

2) Peel and thinkly slice garlic and ginger. Chop scallions into chunks as long as their diameter (to match the chicken cubes). Snip chilies in half or into 2 inch sections and discard as many seeds as possible. (Dunlop recommends wearing rubber gloves when handling the chiles.)

3) Combine sauce ingredients in small bowl.

4) Season wok (heat wok over high heat), then add 2 Tbs of oil and heat until oil is hot but not yet smoking. Add chiles and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry briefly until they are crisp and oil is spicy and fragrant, but don't burn the spices. (Remove wok from heat if necessary.)

5) Add chicken and stir-fry over high flame, stirring constantly. As soon as the chicken cubes have separated, add the ginger, garlic, and scallions and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

6) Give the sauce a stir and add it to the wok, continuing to stir and toss. As soon as sauce thickens and becomes shiny, add the peanuts, stir them in, and serve.

Kitchen Chick notes:
I often "roast" my own peanuts by putting them in a pan over heat and stirring until they begin to brown. But honestly, that method doesn't result in evenly roasted peanuts. If you have unsalted dry-roasted peanuts (Planters sells them in jars), that's a lot easier. You could also take unroasted, unsalted peanuts and fry them in the oil until golden brown before doing the chiles, then remove them from the oil (so they don't burn) before doing the rest of the recipe and re-add at the end.

Joe thinks the recipe uses too much cornstarch for thickening. I honestly can't remember if I over-measured or not.

For the kind of chiles I used, next time I might not bother to cut them open and discard the seeds. I think that if the pods remain whole during stir-frying, then I won't have the seeds in the dish.

Sichuan Peppercorns have, thankfully, become much easier to find. You should be able to find them at local Asian grocery stores. I've gotten mine locally and have had luck finding some fairly fresh ones, but regrettably all too often they've sat around too long and have lost much of their numbing punch. I'd just ordered a new batch from Penzey's Spices. I've always received very fresh, strong spices from them, and I hope it's no different for Sichuan Peppercorns.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Sichuan peppercorns were banned by the USDA from the late 60s through 2005 because they can carry citrus canker. Any now imported are heat-treated (sort of like pasturization) to kill the bacteria.

Probably the reason you haven't had it in restaurants or cookbooks aimed at a US market from that era.

Love the blog, btw! Thought you might be interested in the random Sichuan peppercorn trivia. :)

[Kitchen Chick]

Thanks, I'm glad you like my blog.

The Sichuan ban wasn't enforced much until the early 2000s. I was able to fairly easily buy Sichuan peppercorns before then.

Ban aside, I think they wouldn't have been used much in Americanized Chinese food because, 1) Sichuan dishes were much less common compared to Cantonese, and 2) most Americans, generally speaking, would not have liked it then. (Just think what Americanize Chinese food was like in the 70s and early 80s!)

Lisa

[Kate]

Whoo hoo! I just got some Sichuan peppercorns from Penzey's in the mail yesterday and was digging around for a recipe--as you mentioned most of the ones I turned up don't include the Sichuan peppercorns. Thanks for the recipe!

[Cooking Chat]

I like this dish a lot, might have to try to make it myself. Thanks!

[rightwingprof]

"Sichuan peppercorns were banned by the USDA from the late 60s through 2005 because they can carry citrus canker."

I keep hearing this, yet I have been buying them continuously for many years. Either this is a myth, or a whole lot of Chinese groceries weren't told of the ban.

[Joe (Kitchen Chick's husband)]

While I haven't been able to find anything on the USDA site, I don't think the ban is a myth. The ban supposedly wasn't well-enforced until 2002, and even after that time, people were probably still bringing it in. Here's a link to a New York Times article about the ban (unfortunately reading the full article requires payment but the abstract is pretty good evidence for the existence of a ban):

Click here for abstract (the link is really long)

[rightwingprof]

You may very well like this recipe, my favorite so far. It's simple and "clean," and the ingredients shine through.

[Fumble]

I use Szechuan/Sichuan peppercorns by first dry roasting them in a pan and then putting them into a pepper mill/grinder.

Excellent on chicken or turkey sandwiches. And also my "secret" ingredient on my Thanksgiving turkey.

[camper226]

I'm a Canadian reader living in Toronto. I've gone to various spice stores to find sichuan peppercorns, without any success. "They will come tomorrow", but tomorrow never comes. I probably should have tried Chinatown.

I found a place in downtown Toronto called, "The Spice Trader". www.thespicetrader.ca/
They sell organic spices exclusively, online or in person.

I hope that this helps.

[Brian]

Hi. I just got Land of Plenty in the mail yesterday. Luckily, there is a Sichuan-style asian cafe and market right down the street from my house so I was able to find all these ingredients very easily. (except the Facing Heaven chilies)

I made the Kung Pao Chicken for lunch today.....fantastic. The sichuan peppercorns are unlike anything I've tried before; they are very flavorful!

I was thinking of making the Dan Dan Noodles next, and then perhaps one of the dumpling recipes.

[Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband]

Dan Dan noodles are another favorite of ours. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

[Greg]

Love the blog! I've struggled with finding high quality sichuan pepper (Huajiao) in the states for a number of years now. I became thoroughly addicted to the stuff while living in China. So far, all that I've found stateside has had a much stronger citrus tang but lacks the numbness kick. How do you rank Penzey's Huajiao in comparison to what you've used before?

[Kristoffer]

Ate this stuff virtually everyday for months back when i was living in Beijing. In the beginning i had some problem with the peppercorns, they kinda tasted like detergent i thought, but they grow on you! Now I've been having cravings for nearly a year but haven't been able to find a recipe that looks to be the the real deal before this one. Thanks a lot!

[Mark Dodwell]

I used to eat this all the time when I went to Beijing and stayed with my girlfriend's family. I'd order it from the restaurant downstairs. This recipe is awesome, very authentic. Thanks so much for sharing!