Chinese American kung pao chicken from The Wok - Recipes and Techniques (page 61) by J. Kenji López-Alt

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute dry sherry for Shaoxing wine.

  • nlehrer on April 29, 2026

    Used tofu instead of chicken

  • amy_m9e21f on April 12, 2026

    This is my go-to kung pao chicken recipe. I’ve always used chicken thighs instead of breasts for better flavor. Double the ginger.

  • nancy_ykljtr on February 25, 2026

    Tender and flavorful chicken, saucy and delicious dish!

  • Bumbledog on August 12, 2025

    This became an instant classic at my house - was exactly what you hope for when you think of kung pao chicken. Thanks, Kenji!

  • anya_sf on July 24, 2024

    I used about 12 oz chicken breast, which I did not wash (Kenji does not explain the purpose of this step), which worked well and stayed juicy. With most of the seeds removed from the chiles, this wasn't spicy at all, so next time I'll leave some in. Cucumber worked well in place of zucchini. We enjoyed this quite a bit, but it only served 2 for dinner with rice (plus 1 small lunch).

  • ashallen on October 16, 2022

    As promised in the recipe title, this is a take-out style dish - though very high quality and pleasant take-out! The chunks of pepper added a nice juiciness. We don't handle spicy-hot very well, so I used only 2 versus 8 dried chiles. I missed the stronger flavors of more traditional versions of this dish, so I'm looking forward to trying the Gong Bao Ji Ding recipe that the author has in this book.

  • Fyretigger on April 24, 2022

    All the techniques worked great. It was tasty, but not the Kung Pao I love, not 'write home about'. I used chicken breast instead of thighs (defrosted the wrong package), and it turns out, Thick Soy Sauce and Dark Soy Sauce are not the same thing -- oops. So I will give it another try.

  • patioweather on April 01, 2022

    This is the closest that I have ever gotten to Chinese restaurant food at home.

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