Gong bao chicken with peanuts (Gong bao ji ding) from Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking (page 118) by Fuchsia Dunlop

  • scallions
  • chicken breasts
  • fresh ginger
  • sesame oil
  • superfine sugar
  • peanuts
  • Szechuan pepper
  • dried chiles
  • potato flour
  • Shaoxing rice wine
  • Chinese black rice vinegar
  • light soy sauce
  • dark soy sauce

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

  • emiliang on September 24, 2022

    Love this recipe for its vibrant and balanced flavors. If you want it to look more similar to what you would get in a Chinese American restaurant, add some green bell pepper and celery, and use only half the amount of peanuts.

  • ashallen on July 20, 2021

    Loaded with wonderful, intense flavors - loved it and will definitely make it again! I don't handle chili-heat very well, so I used 3 chili de arbol (seeds removed, but not ribs) versus the handful of dried chilies specified in the recipe. Despite that cutback and my not-super-fresh Sichuan peppercorns, the dish was still at the edge of being too hot for me! Still very delicious, though, and the sugar in the sauce helps balance the heat.

  • corylavell on May 10, 2021

    I personally reduce the sugar a little in this dish because I prefer a more savoury flavour, but it is beautiful as written too. Not crazy spicy, and just great fun to eat.

  • TrishaCP on March 12, 2021

    We really liked this. We used five Thai chiles and that was the perfect heat level for us.

  • metacritic on February 28, 2021

    Every bit as good as others say. It has delicate notes (rice wine), fruity notes (from the Facing Heaven Chilies), numbing elements (Sichuan peppers), while also spiked with garlic and ginger. Prep took surprisingly long and the cooking just minutes. I reduced chillies to seven for the sake of children and somewhat wish I hadn't. It wasn't as spicy as I think it ought to be. I doubled the dish, which seemed to work, though with wok cooking I'm never wholly sure of how I've affected the cooking by increasing yield. I see a debate about whether there are too many peanuts in this version. I wouldn't reduce them, personally. I love what they add to both the flavor and texture of the dish.

  • Jardimc on October 27, 2020

    Yummy, sweet, sour, salt, spicey. Use max 3/4 of the potato starch indicated for a less gooey sauce.

  • jenmacgregor18 on October 03, 2020

    I used full amount of de arbol chiles. i didn't have any sichuan peppers, added a bit of korean peppers. & it was plenty spicy for me. subbed cornstarch for potato flour. I thought it was simple, quick and really very good. I also had a problem with inhaling chile oil/smoke & couldn't stop coughing for some time. It did also really smoke up the apartment. If I make again, I'll try to open up the screen door, have the fans all on & try not to breathe over the skillet. :)

  • Rutabaga on January 21, 2020

    Excellent! This had great flavor and was a snap to make. I doubled the recipe, and my eight-year-old had three helpings; he's starting to get into spicier foods, which is exciting for me. And for the four year old, I cooked and reserved some of the simply marinated chicken before making the main dish with the peppers. I used whole chile de arbor peppers without seeding them. They added a pleasant amount of moderate heat, which the Sichuan peppercorns definitely added a numbing quality to the dish, which I love.

  • Jojobuch on October 07, 2019

    Great quick recipe for weeknight dinner - it wasn’t very spicy at all (I used the full amount of dried chiles but was diligent about shaking out dried seeds - will likely be less diligent next time to increase spice).

  • Kduncan on February 01, 2019

    Halved the peanuts, subbed regular peppers for sichuan pepper, and added a few more chiles, as we like our food spicy. Didn't have the smoke problem at all. Overall the SO like this dish a lot more than I did. I found it a bit one-dimensional compared to other quick stir-fry type recipes I've made from Fushia Dunlop recipes.

  • Agaillard on May 20, 2018

    I absolutely love this recipe, this is the first one I made from Fushia Dunlop, and still my favourite. Easy to make, ingrédients not too hard to find, delicious! I do reduce the chiles from 10 to 2 (low spicy tolerance..) For the peanuts, I wouldn't know about the smell, because I cheat and buy pre-roasted peanuts :/ I love the flavours of this dish though, the sauce, the Sichuan Pepper, and the peanuts is what sets it apart (in my opinion).

  • wcassity on May 14, 2018

    Not our favorite. And smoked up the house for hours!

  • Dannausc on May 06, 2018

    It was good; different from what I’m used to. This Sichuan pepper gave it another dimension.

  • ellabee on February 21, 2015

    Easy, delicious, and warming for a snowy night. Made with about 3 chiles (all I had) and some very ancient Sichuan peppercorns, but still good heat and zing (added a couple of drops of chile sesame oil to make up for the chiles). Also added a half bell pepper, cubed just smaller than chicken, at the same time as the ginger, garlic, and scallions. Cut peanuts down to 1/2 cup, would go to 1/3 next time and break peanuts into halves before adding.

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 10, 2014

    Love this recipe, but like Bloominanglophile said, 10 chiles is a LOT (and I like spicy food)- I was coughing from inhaling chile smoke for an hour after I made this! Full review here: http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/11/10/gong-bao-chicken-with-peanuts/

  • Bloominanglophile on August 29, 2014

    This was a delicious introduction to my first of Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbooks. I did scale back the chiles to 5 instead of 10, and it was plenty spicy for my family. I think I had read on a Chowhound thread where some people thought the amount of peanuts was excessive-- I thought the amount in this recipe was just fine.

  • Astrid5555 on February 28, 2014

    Excellent! Made without chilli. Loved how the peanuts added some texture.

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