Kung Pao Chicken

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

This tasted great! As good as my favorite restaurant makes. Hold off on the cornstarch at the end, you may not need it. If you do want it a little thicker, add just a little. My first try at this recipe came out with a thicker sauce than it should have had and after that I have either added none or maybe a tsp or two. I also upped the vegetables adding carrots, onions and water chestnuts.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

Excellent but just a little confusing. There needs to be a break in the 2nd ingredient list after the hoisin but before the second peanut oil ... I kicked myself when I realized the sauce ingredients end at hoisin, (Skimming it off the top of the sauce into the wok.

And WTH is "A GARLIC"?? A whole garlic? Or a clove? I split the difference.

Doubled most of the recipe and tripled the chicken, used 3/4 cup raw peanuts and fried them first, 6 GREEN ONIONS, ~3-4 tsp minced garlic, substituted white wine and white wine vinegar, reduced the salt, added 1 tsp sesame oil and should have reduced the slurry (added some water cause it was so thick. Didn't double the chilis (for my wife's taste, it was just spicy enough for her sensitive palate.

Commenters:There is NO plum sauce in this recipe
Change what you like, but you can't have kung pao chicken without peanuts & heat. Drop chicken, peppers or peanuts (&maybe green onions for that matter & it ain't kung pao chicken!

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

The term 'stir-fry' always gets a groan from my 10 year old, but even she was thrilled with this dish. As others have stated, it definitely needs more veggies to make the meal. Here are the changes I made to make it a little more 'me'.

Additions:

Chili-Garlic Sauce (prepared from jar
Sesame Oil
Broccoli
Bean Sprouts

Substitutions:

Jalapeño (instead of peppers, mostly to control heat
White Wine Vinegar (no rice wine on hand

Omissions:

Entire marinade procedure

Outcome:

Delicious! Everyone loved it. Sauce was sweet, maybe a bit less sugar next time. Definitely going into my recipe files for regular use. Served with rice and sprinkled with peanuts for extra crunch. Way better than take out!

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

Very tasty and flavorful, but watch the sodium. I added chili garlic sauce which added more flavor (and salt, but I think it was too salty even before the addition.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

We used 14 oz extra firm tofu sliced and seared in a blazing hot pan instead of the chicken. We did not use the marinade for the chicken on the tofu.

So that the amount of sauce would be sufficient we doubled all the sauce seasonings while using 1.5 cups chicken stock and two Trader Joe's lower sodium chicken stock packets. We also doubled the peanuts and the green onions. We did not increase the cornstarch and left it at 1 TB.

Also this was really lacking veggies so we added two medium onions thinly sliced, 1 carrot julienned, 1 can sliced water chestnuts and 1/3 small head red cabbage julienned.

It was delicious - just like at a restaurant and very easy.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

This was good, but needed a little work. I added one small chopped red bell pepper and a small can of sliced water chestnuts. For the sauce, use one less tablespoon of rice vinegar. I also used two teaspoons of sugar instead of two tablespoons, and will use even less sugar next time. The slurry at the end made it too thick, so I would suggest using one teaspoon of cornstarch instead of a one tablespoon.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

The hoisin sauce does make this pretty sweet, so I think next time I'll just use less or maybe no added sugar. I didn't have time to marinate the chicken first so I skipped that part but the dish still came out very flavorful. I sliced the chicken very thin and cooked it fast so it wouldn't dry out.

I didn't have dried chilies on hand so I used a chili and garlic sauce that comes in a jar and added some of it to the sauce until I got the heat I wanted.
It certainly didn't taste like the Kung Pao from my favorite take out place but I would still make the dish again.

I also added some vegetables like pea pods, broccoli and bell pepper to make it a little healthier.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

I've tried so many different stir fry's with only bland results, this is truely a keeper! I never wrote a review before but this couldn't go unpraised. Yes, it;s awful lot of prep but they all are, this one is worth it. I had to double the ingredients and I stir fried asparatus and pea pods as a vegetable serving. Rave reviews from the family and low fat friendly.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

My family and I loved this recipe and will definitely make it again and again.

Flag

Flag This Review?

You must provide a reason for flagging this review.

Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.

• Submit

or Cancel

I used shrimp instead of chicken and only used half of the slurry. I didn't have plum sauce so I used oyster sauce. The flavor was still really great. I also added red peppers and lotus root for some veggies and crunch.