Well,
I'm back in lovely San Francisco after our whirlwind trip to New York
City, and even though I have a serious case of jetlag, I wanted to post
this highly simplified and quite Americanized version of Kung Pao
chicken. Of course, I only mention the jetlag to explain any increase in
the frequency of typos (I know you'll have my back as usual).If I ranked my top email requests, "an easy chicken stir-fry" is certainly in the top five. Of course, as I mention in the video, I don't even own a wok, so this isn't technically a "stir-fry," but it's close enough for the internet, so save your cards and letters.
This fairly simple dish is loosely based on the spicy, Chinese take-out classic, Kung Pao chicken. The origins of the name, "Kung Pao" are difficult to trace, especially when you are too tired and lazy to do any research, but I assume the recipe's history is fascinating.
I've pretty much stripped this down to the bare essentials, and as I mention in the video, it's a recipe that you'll really want to play around with. All the ingredients you see listed below are literally, "to taste."
Speaking
of ingredient amounts, the quantities below are what I think the
average viewer would find most enjoyable, so don't be alarmed if what
you actually see me tossing in is a little more or less. I don't
generally measure when cooking something like this, and I think the more
often you make it, you'll find yourself becoming just as carefree.If you like your Kung Pao-esque chicken dishes to be extra saucy, thick, and sticky (more like the traditional Chinese-American take-out style), you can double the sauce ingredients, and almost triple the cornstarch/water mixture. It's really up to you – I just prefer a little lighter version. Enjoy!