I believe most of us have tried Kung Pao Chicken before and love the complex sauce of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavours. The origin of this classic dish is from the Sichuan Province of south-western China and typically includes Sichuan peppercorns. Personally, I like the numbing effect of the Sichuan peppercorns and it makes the dish more authentic!! 😊
Today, I am going to cook this dish with a twist, by replacing chicken with prawns. The combination of the prawns and Kung Pao sauce were just so amazing!! Every time I cook a prawn dish, my son will just “patronise” me only eating one or two prawns. But with this dish, he had at least 4 prawns to go with his rice. Now who is the one who must sacrifice and eat less prawns? Me, of course! This dish is so good that your prawns will be gone in no time. So, get woking….
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Serves 4 persons
Ingredients:
12 to 16 big prawns deshelled and deveined
2 tablespoons oil
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, skin removed and quartered
1 small green bell pepper/capsicum, cut into pieces
10 dried red chillies
¼ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts/cashew nuts
3 stalks of scallions, use the white parts only
Kung Pao Sauce:
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon premium dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 tablespoons chicken stock/water
½ teaspoon sesame oil
3 dashes white pepper
1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing Wine
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Method:
- Mix all the ingredients for the Kung Pao sauce together, then set aside.
- Heat up a wok/pan and add the cooking oil.
- When the oil is very hot, add the ginger and give it a quick stir-fry.
- Add the onions, green peppers, scallions, dried red chilies and the Sichuan peppercorns. Stir-fry till they are aromatic.
- Add in the prawns and keep frying.
- When the prawns are almost cooked, add the Kung Pao sauce into the wok. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
- Lastly, add in the roasted peanuts/cashew nuts and mix them into the dish.
- Plate and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes from Mummy’s Kitchen:
- I retained the prawn heads and tails to enhance the taste of the dish. If you do not like them, you may remove them.
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