Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is a Sichuan stir-fry of diced chicken, roasted peanuts and dried chillies in a sweet-sour-salty sauce sharpened with Sichuan pepper. It comes from Chengdu and travelled further than almost any other Sichuan dish, though the version served abroad is usually milder than the original.

What it really is

Diced chicken thigh is briefly marinated, then tossed hard and fast in a hot wok with whole dried red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns — enough to scent the oil, not to be eaten whole. Garlic, ginger and the white of spring onion go in next, then a sauce built from doubanjiang, soy sauce, black vinegar and sugar, thickened to a light glaze with a little starch. Roasted peanuts and the spring onion greens are stirred in last, off the heat, so they stay crisp.

Balance is the whole dish. Sweet, sour, salty and chilli-hot sit together in one glaze, and the peanuts and dried chillies give it two different kinds of crunch. The name honours Ding Baozhen, a Qing-dynasty governor of Sichuan whose title was gongbao — "Palace Guardian" — and the dish is said to have come from his household's own kitchen.

How it is served

• Straight from the wok, with plain steamed rice.
• Hot, so the peanuts stay crisp and the chicken stays tender.
• The whole dried chillies are for aroma, not for eating.

How to write it on the menu

• Say it is spiced, not simply hot — the Sichuan pepper numbs as well as burns.
• Peanuts are an allergen and should be flagged clearly.
• Soy sauce and doubanjiang usually carry wheat as well as soy.