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Kung Pao Chicken - square

Kung Pao WOW Chicken


  • Author: Jeanette
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 8 people 1x

Description

This spicy meal will it fulfill any Chinese food craving without the food coma status that usually ensues. It’s a win-win!


Scale

Ingredients

Toasted cashews

  • 2 tsp avocado oil
  • 2 cups raw cashews

Chicken marinade

  • 32 oz organic chicken breast (cut up into cubes)
  • 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 tsp arrowroot starch
  • 2 tsp himalayan pink salt
  • 3 tbsp dry sherry wine
  • 3 tsp ground white pepper

Kung Pao WOW sauce

  • 3 tbsp liquid aminos
  • 2 tsp GF dark soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tsp raw honey
  • 8 tbsp filtered water
  • 3 tsp arrowroot starch

Everything else

  • 6 tbsp avocado oil
  • 8 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 6 slices ginger (minced)
  • 3 dried Thai chili peppers (add up to 6 for a lot of heat!)
  • 1/2 onion

Instructions

Marinate the chicken (or veggies)

  1. First off, you’ll want to marinate the chicken (or choice of veggies, if making this vegetarian) with the avocado oil, (4 tsp) starch, salt, sherry wine, and white pepper.
  2. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Pan-roast cashews

  1. Heat 1-2 teaspoons of avocado oil in deep frying pan or wok.
  2. Keep the heat on medium and add cashews. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes so they do not over-cook. You don’t want that icky burnt taste ruining a good meal, now.
  3. Remove cashews, set aside on a plate to cool off.

Prepare the special sauce

  1. Combine water and 3 tsp arrowroot starch in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Add liquid aminos, GF dark soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and honey to a small pot.
  3. Slowly heat until you notice that the honey has melted (low – medium heat). This may happen quickly, so keep an eye on it.
  4. Let the sauce cool a bit before adding the arrowroot starch and water mix into the sauce. Wait like 5 minutes before adding back in.

Let’s get cookin’

  1. Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pan where you cooked the cashews. Sear the chicken as evenly as you can.
  2. Remove the chicken from pan/wok and put into another plate or bowl.
  3. Now it’s time to add more oil (about a tablespoon) to the pan and add onions, ginger, garlic, and dried thai chilis. Cook for a few minutes.
  4. Add chicken. It’s time to stir-fry! Turn the heat up to medium or high (depending on your stove). Stir-fry everything for a minute or so.
  5. Now you’ll want to add the sauce and continue to stir fry. You’ll notice the sauce start to thicken. This is good!
  6. Lastly, you’ll want to add the cashews and stir everything up.
  7. Pick your tongue up off the floor and eat up! You can pair with your favorite kind of rice (although I suggest brown rice cooked simply with salt, pepper, and a little bit of lemon juice).

Notes

Make it vegan: substitute chicken with tofu or more veggies; substitute honey for organic raw sugar.

Use organic ingredients whenever possible

Recipe is inspired by a wonderful blog called Woks of Life.

  • Category: Entree
  • Cuisine: Chinese