Gong bao chicken

Make a Chinese chicken dish to die for using Chinese black vinegar – known as chinkiang – plus other classic Asian flavours. It's well worth sourcing the ingredients

Prep:30 mins
Cook:25 mins
plus marinating

Serves 4
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 453
fat 22g
saturates 5g
carbs 13g
sugars 7g
fibre 2g
protein 49g
salt 2.4g

Ingredients

800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine or amontillado sherry
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1½ tbsp chilli bean paste
8 spring onions
3cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
8 dried Sichuan chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
1 tsp sesame oil
75g roasted unsalted peanuts
cooked rice, to serve

Method

Mix the chicken pieces, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine, and all of the cornflour together in a bowl. Cover and transfer to the fridge to marinate for at least 30 mins.
In another bowl, stir together the remaining soy sauce and rice wine, the vinegar, sugar and chilli bean paste until the mixture is smooth.
Slice the green parts of the spring onions lengthways into thin strips. Trim and chop the white ends into thin slices, then put in a small bowl with the ginger and garlic.
Heat the groundnut oil in a wok set over a high heat, then add the chillies and ground peppercorns and stir-fry until the chillies have darkened slightly (be careful not to burn them). Add the marinated chicken pieces and continue to stir-fry for 5-8 mins, or until the chicken has browned. Add the spring onion and ginger mixture and stir-fry until the meat is just cooked through. Add the vinegar mixture and toss to combine, then stir through the green parts of the spring onions, the sesame oil and peanuts. Serve with boiled rice.