Gong Bao Chicken with Peanuts

📝 Ingredients

• 450 g chicken breast (3 fillets, about 150 g each)
• 4 tsp cornflour (3 for the chicken, 1 for the sauce)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (1 for the marinade, 2 for the sauce)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tbsp caster sugar + 3 tbsp water (for the sauce)
• 60 g unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1 red pepper (about 180 g)
• 4 spring onions
• 3 garlic cloves + 15 g fresh ginger
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil
• 225 g jasmine rice + 350 ml water for cooking

🍴 Utensils

• Wok or large frying pan
• Saucepan with lid
• 2 bowls
• Spatula
• Knife and chopping board

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the jasmine rice until the water runs almost clear, put it in a saucepan with 350 ml water and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for 12 min over a very low heat, then leave to rest for 10 min off the heat without lifting the lid.
2. Cut the chicken into 2 cm cubes. Mix them in a bowl with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 3 tsp cornflour until each piece is coated in a thin film. Leave to marinate for 10 min while you prepare the vegetables.
3. Deseed the pepper and cut it into 2 cm squares. Cut the spring onions into 2 cm lengths, keeping a little of the green, finely sliced, for the end. Peel and finely slice the garlic and ginger.
4. Make the sauce in a second bowl: 2 tbsp soy sauce, the rice vinegar, the sugar, 3 tbsp water and 1 tsp cornflour. Stir until the sugar and cornflour have dissolved. Keep everything within easy reach: wok cooking goes very fast.
5. Dry-toast the peanuts in the wok for 2 min over a medium heat, stirring, until fragrant and fully crunchy again, without letting them burn. Set aside on a plate.
6. Heat the oil in the wok over a high heat until very hot and shimmering. Add the chicken in a single layer and leave it to sear for 2 min without touching it, then stir-fry for 2 to 3 min until golden and almost cooked. Set aside.
7. Reduce to a medium heat and fry the chilli, garlic and ginger for 30 s, stirring: chilli burns quickly and turns bitter. Add the pepper and spring onion pieces, then stir-fry for 2 min over a high heat: they should stay crunchy.
8. Return the chicken to the wok, stir the sauce and pour it in. Toss for 1 min until it thickens and glazes the pieces and the chicken is cooked through. Add the peanuts off the heat, scatter over the spring onion greens and serve immediately with the rice.