Gong Bao Chicken

If I’m being totally honest, I must say that while I like Chinese take-out, I don’t love it. It’s okay, nice to have every now and then and hey, I don’t have to cook it myself. But most of the dishes just aren’t all that great. They’re greasy, have too much sauce with them.

So last summer I went on a 3-week trip to China. Now, China is absolutely amazing! If you ever get the chance of going there for a holiday, take it and go. So, in China I was overjoyed when I found out that in Yanshuo I could sign up for a cooking class! Of course, I went and I had the greatest fun!

I had my own station and we all cooked three different dishes.

All in all, I had a great time and the food was just amazing! It’s take-out, but better! Honestly, I am in love with this dish. It’s full of flavor, spicy and not greasy at all!

I must admit that China ruined me. Because of course, here we’re eating westernized versions of the food they really eat in China. And I find now that I’ve had real, proper Chinese food for three weeks (even though I was SO happy to come home and eat something other than Chinese food) take-out just isn’t the same anymore. I like it, as I said, but it just isn’t the Chinese food I had on my trip. But at least I have the recipes of the cooking class to help me make that food again! Here’s the first one:

Gong Bao Chicken
Adapted from: Cloud 9 Restaurant in Yanshuo
Yields: 3

Ingredients

• 250 gram chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into cubes
• 1 green pepper, de-seeded and cut into cubes
• 20 gram cucumber, seeds removed and cut into cubes
• 20 gram carrots, cut into cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Small piece of ginger, minced (I’d say use about 1,5 centimeter or more if you like ginger a lot)
• 6 pieces dried red chili, make a 1 inch cut in the chili (the original recipe called for 10 red chili’s but I found that 6 made the dish spicy enough for me)
• 2 pieces of spring onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 20 gram deep fried peanuts
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan numb pepper
• Pinch of sugar
• Water 

Ingredients for the marinade:

• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ table spoon cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon rice wine
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1 egg white

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinade the chicken and put aside for about 5 minutes.
2. Heat a wok and put in 3 tablespoons of oil. Stir-fry the chicken and move it out when it’s about 80% done.
3. With the oil still in the wok, stir-fry the garlic, ginger and dried chili’s over a low heat.
4. Put the rest of the vegetables in except the spring onions. Stir-fry the vegetables and when they’re about halfway done, add a little water (only add a little. When you’re done with the dish you can always thin it out with some extra water if you think it’s too thick).
5. Season the dish with the soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, chicken stock and sugar.
6. Add the chicken to the vegetables, put in the Sichuan numb pepper and stir-fry for about 2 minutes over a low heat.
7. Add the spring onions and peanuts, heat them with the dish for about a minute and then serve your Gong Bao Chicken.

~Enjoy!