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Chicken and Peanut
Serves 2 Prep 15 min Cook 3 min Total 18 min Type Meal Origin Chinese

Chicken and Peanut

A Chinese stir-fry: diced chicken tossed hot with roasted peanuts, dried chilli and a glossy soy-and-vinegar sauce.

Serves 2 Prep 15 minutes Cook 3 minutes Units Rate

Overview

When cooking Chinese food, it's essential to think about the flavours and textures of ingredients working in harmony. Juicy chicken combined with succulent baby corn, tender vegetables, and salty, crunchy cashew nuts create a balanced dish where each element complements the others. A glossy sauce ties everything together without overwhelming delicate flavours.

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 3 minutes

Ingredients

Aromatics & Protein

  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • ½ tsp fresh ginger (finely chopped)
  • 2 chicken breast fillets (sliced)

Vegetables

  • 1 onion (roughly chopped)
  • 1 carrot (finely diced)
  • 40g tinned water chestnuts (sliced into bite-sized discs)
  • 30g tinned bamboo shoots
  • 3 baby corn cobs (cut into bite-sized pieces)

Sauce & Finish

  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 80ml chicken stock
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 1 tbsp cornflour (mixed with 2 tbsp water)
  • 30g salted, roasted cashew nuts
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Method

Stage 1 - Aromatics & Chicken

  1. Place a wok over medium-high heat and add the groundnut oil, garlic and ginger.
  2. Fry for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Stage 2 - Add Vegetables

  1. Add the onion, carrot, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and baby corn.
  2. Stir-fry for a further 2 minutes.

Stage 3 - Build Sauce

  1. Spoon in the oyster sauce and soy sauce.
  2. Pour in the stock and add salt and pepper.
  3. Stir well and bring to the boil.
  4. Turn down to simmer for 2 minutes.

Stage 4 - Thicken & Finish

  1. Pour in the cornflour mixture, stirring as you do.
  2. Remove from the heat.
  3. Add the cashew nuts and sesame oil and mix well.
  4. Transfer to a serving dish.

Notes

  • Textural harmony: Tinned water chestnuts and bamboo shoots add authentic crunch. Their texture is essential to the dish.
  • Cornflour timing: Add just before finishing to achieve a glossy sauce without over-thickening.
  • Sesame oil finish: Adds fragrant authenticity at the very end.

Serving

Serve with: Steamed white rice

Storage

  • Best served immediately for texture contrast
  • Keeps 1 day refrigerated (vegetables may soften)
  • Not recommended for freezing

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Kung pao (gongbao) shrimp is the seafood cousin of the classic Sichuan gongbao jiding, named for the 19th-century governor-general Ding Baozhen whose title was Gong Bao. Where the chicken version uses diced meat, the shrimp version keeps the prawns whole or halved so they curl into bright pink commas around the chillies and peanuts. The flavour profile is the signature Sichuan "lychee" balance: a touch of sweetness from sugar, sourness from black vinegar, salt and umami from soy, and the warm tingle (ma la) of toasted Sichuan peppercorn paired with the smoky bite of dried er jing tiao chillies. This is a fast dish, fundamentally a wok exercise: every ingredient must be prepped and lined up before the heat goes on, because once the chillies hit the oil you have maybe ninety seconds before everything is overcooked. Difficulty is moderate for a home cook with a working wok and high burner; the trick is keeping the chillies dark red and fragrant without scorching them black, and pulling the shrimp out the moment they curl. Served over plain rice it is one of the most rewarding ten-minute meals in the repertoire.

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