The Wok Project: Kung Pao Chicken

Have you read that Kung Pao Chicken was the "official dish" of the Beijing Olympics? The blogger that posted didn't read the post they cited as carefully as they should have, because the article was about official English translations for Chinese dishes whose literal translations are very unusual--to say the least--in English.

However they did post a rather nice recipe for Kung Pao Chicken. If you compare it to the one that I post here you will find that they are pretty close to each other. The biggest difference is the inclusion of carrots in mine (the inclusion of vegetables in Kung Pao Chicken is common even if it is not traditional) and the use of a little hoisin sauce in the dish, also common but not traditional. The post is located at AppetiteforChina .

The recipe I demonstrate in the video is pretty much the one that Barbara Fisher gives in her Tigers & Strawberries post Kung Pao Creation Myth. Barbara has some interesting research on the origins and name of the dish, and you certainly want to visit her blog.

I mention in the video that there are several Kung Pao Chicken recipes posted on YouTube. You will find quite a bit of variation in these, and there are only a couple I would consider trying. One of the videos has comments that the chicken has to be deep fried. You will find many versions of Kung Pao Chicken where the chicken is deep fried. This is true of many Chinese dishes, a common method of cooking is to quickly deep fry meat and poultry at a fairly low temperature prior to stir frying. This method changes the texture of the meat somewhat, and is common in Chinese restaurants. You can give this a try, but unless you have a deep fryer at home this is a lot of trouble to go through and it also adds additional fat to the dish. You can make very good stir fries without this step, and many Chinese cookbooks do not include it.

The ingredients for Kung Pao Chicken as demonstrated in the video are:

2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon black rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chicken stock

Mix all of the above together for the sauce

2 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2 cubes

Marinate the chicken in:

2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry (or Shaoxing wine)
2 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch

Marinate about 30 minutes

2 carrots cut into thin slices
2 jalapenos sliced
7-8 dried red chilies
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
sliced fresh ginger, about the same amount as garlic
1 teaspoon toasted, ground Sichuan peppercorns
3 scallions cut into about 1 inch pieces
2/3 cups dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

Oil for stir frying -- peanut oil is traditional, I usually use safflower oil because it has a smoke point similar to peanut oil with less saturated fat.

See the video for how to put this all together

The Wok Project: Mongolian Beef

This is the first of a series of videos and post related to wok cooking with an emphasis on Chinese. I plan to show a variety of Chinese dishes, and hopefully teach some new things along the way.

The first installment of The Wok Project is Mongolian Beef. Mongolian Beef is a popular item on many Chinese restaurant menus in the US, however it more properly belongs in the category of Chinese-American food as it is not an authentic Chinese dish. However, the flavors and cooking techniques are certainly consistent with Chinese food and given the popularity of the dish I think it is a good introduction to the Wok Project.

Their are many versions of the dish, a Google search will turn up a variety of recipes and a lot of references to the Mongolian Beef at P. F. Changs, which seems to be a favorite. I have not had their Mongolian Beef, and given my experience with our local P. F. Changs (see my post P. F. Changs Disappointment) I may never try it, but it does seem to be quite popular. Grace Young has a recipe from Martin Yan in The Breath of a Wok called Khangis Kahn Beef which is basically the same dish.

The recipe I demonstrate in this video is from Tigersandstrawberries. I have made a few modifications, changing the type of beef, using regular rather than red jalapenos, and skipping the elegant presentation with the cucumbers. When I was editing the video I realized that I probably took too much credit for the recipe by using the word "inspired" as this recipe is essential the same as Barbara's.

To make Mongolian Beef:

3/4 lb beef (I used top sirloin, flank steak can be used as well, or if you want to go all out use the tenderloin that Barbara uses) cut into thin strips.

Marinade:

1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cornstarch

Mix above with beef slices and allow to stand for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

1 medium onion -- cut in half and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic -- peeled and thinly slices
about 2 tbsp thinly sliced fresh ginger
2 jalpenos thinly sliced

Sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp ground bean sauce (or bean sauce)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons dry sherry of Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

See the video for how to put this all together.