I absolutely love Chinese food! But everytime I tried to make it at home, the results were mediocre at best. In my previous attempts, I would use chicken, various vegetables and bottled stir fry sauces. Not impressed. Not even a little. When I found this recipe for Kung Pao Chicken I thought I would give it one more try.
The recipe, which I found in a recipe e-newsletter that I receive, seemed easy enough. Of course I didn’t have any of the specialty ingredients on hand. But they were easy enough to find at my grocery store. To make it easier on myself, I mixed up the sauce ingredients this past Sunday and stashed it in the fridge. I did end up making a second batch because of the mix up earlier this week with the pork chops! I also chopped the broccoli on Sunday. Everything was stored in Ziplocs in the fridge, ready for my weeknight dinner.
The Recipe
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, divided
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped salted peanuts
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and 2 teaspoons ginger to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add water. Cover; cook 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Remove broccoli from pan; keep warm.
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan; add remaining 1 teaspoon ginger, crushed red pepper, and chicken. Cook 4 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned, stirring frequently.
Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return broccoli mixture to pan; toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts.
What I Did…
By having most of the steps pre-prepped, I only had to chop the fresh ginger (I love the smell of fresh ginger root!). If you’ve never used this before, it may seem a little daunting. After all, it does look like a big piece of root. Not very appetizing. However, once you peel off the skin (I use a vegetable peeler), you’ll notice it’s quite fragrant.
Once the ginger was chopped, I had to slice the boneless, skinless chicken into strips. I always buy my meats from our local butcher, Bosak’s Choice Meats in Olyphant. Every piece of meat that I buy is always perfectly trimmed and ready to use right out of the package! No trimming or cleaning (gross!) or waste. I highly recommend them!
Once these two steps were done, the rest of the meal came together pretty quickly. It only took about 15 minutes to cook everything! In fact, the chicken and broccoli were done way before the rice was done!
The dish looked great. And, it smelled fantastic! I had high hopes for this one!
Is it a keeper?
This recipe is a keeper, keeper, keeper! It met all 3 of my requirements 1.) Parts can pre-prepped in advance, 2.) It’s quick and easy to prepare and 3.) It’s delicious!
Sweet, tangy and little hint of heat (from the crushed red pepper). The peanuts also gave it a nice crunch. Jim loved it too! Next time, I will double the recipe so that I have some left overs for lunch the next day!
I have to be honest, I don’t think it will take the place of my favorite Chinese restaurant, The New China Star in Dunmore. But, this was great contender as far as home cooked Chinese food goes! No more bottled sauces for this girl! This homemade sauce was super simple and super yummy!
Do you have a recipe for homemade Chinese food that you love? Please share!
Christina
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22 Responses to Homemade Takeout: Kung Pao Chicken
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About Me
Hi! I'm Christina, the chief cook and bottle washer at It's a Keeper. I love to cook and am a self proclaimed recipe hoarder who reads cook books cover to cover like most people read a juicy novel. Join me as I cook and bake my way through the pile of recipes that I've collected. Read more.Find It’s a Keeper on:
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that looks amazing! we love chinese food!
Thanks for sharing! I was looking for a good Chinese food recipe to make!
I would love if you linked up to my make it for less Mondays.
http://www.simplycadence.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful day!
Isn’t it great when you can make your favorite meals at home, and they taste just as good as the restaurant. I love doing that! Hubby and I have a favorite chinese recipe we use at home. It does have bottled sauce in it so I dont know if you’d like it or not, but its called General Tso’s Chicken
http://bigbearswife.blogspot.com/2010/05/general-tso-chicken.html
Yum! Your recipe sounds great and I can’t wait to try it!
That does sound delicious and a lot healthier than your usual chinese takeouts! I’m of chinese background, and a good stirfry really makes my day! There are some tips to getting that extra good stirfry i.e. juicy tender chicken that you find in chinese restaurants, do take a look if you like!
http://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/03/three-cup-chicken_29.html
the technique’s called velveting:
http://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/02/secrets-to-chinese-stir-fry.html
Mmm.. I love this recipe too.. but here..we add in some onion, slice the ginger…but pre stir fry the chicken which marinate with soya sauce, wine + sugar…then all in stir fry again..add some dry chillies too!
Oh thank you so much for sharing this with hearth and soul Hop. I was looking for a kung pao chicken recipe and this looks great !!!
Good idea to prep ahead! It looks amazing!
I have a very similar recipe that my family loves. I love it too, because not only is it tasty, but it is more healthy and much less expensive than eating out. Win-win!
Wow does this sound and look wonderful. Cannot wait to give it a try.
This look yummy! I love Kung Pao and I agree that it is hard to make good Chinese at home
thanks for sharing!
xoxo
I am bookmarking this recipe. I don’t overly enjoy the bottled sauces but they work in a pinch. I have been wanting to make kung pao at home. I cannot wait to give this a try.
I love Kung Pao Chicken and I am so glad to have a recipe for it. Printed it off. Woohoo!
That looks delicious! I love kung pao chicken! Thanks for the recipe!
Would love for you to join my linky party!
http://www.inspiringcreationsblog.com/2011/05/friday-favorites-linky-party_19.html
I really think rice wine vinegar is the key to making yummy tasting at home asian food.
Thanks for linking up to Make & Share at HOMEmomMADE.
Hey, I forgot to ask if you wouldn’t mind linking back to Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbit. I love having your Kung Pao Chicken joining the blog party.
Thanks.
Yowza! This looks wonderful! Thanks so much for bringing to Friday Potluck… I love “take out” style recipes, and share your chagrin that they rarely work out. Glad this one did, I’ll have to add it to my “to try” list. Thanks.
Bottled sauces do not even compare to homemade. Great job with this. Thanks for linking this up to Fat Camp Friday! Hope to see you next week!
This looks sooo delicious! And I agree with you.. that for some reason Chinese food is super hard to recreate at home.. but looks like you hit this one out of the ball park! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks so much for sharing with the Pink Hippo Party!
sounds so delicious and healthy…great recipe to try, thanks for sharing! visiting late from FTF, sorry! have a great week!
This was the most popular recipe last week @ Prairie Story Recipe Swap Thursday! Thank you for sharing and please come by again! http://www.prairiestory.com/
~Alison @ Prairie Story
I am just home from Italy and checking out your friday’s favorite. A big plate of Takee-Outee looks yummy after my pasta overload!