Kung pao chicken with rice
Sichuan kung pao chicken — diced chicken thigh with dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and crunchy peanuts in a glossy sweet-and-sour sauce — warms you from the inside on a cold day.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yang-deficient types dread the solstice cold, with icy hands and feet and a poor appetite. Dried chillies and Sichuan pepper warm the middle and chase away cold, chicken warms and nourishes, and peanuts strengthen the spleen. Sweet, sour and gently hot, it perks up the appetite and warms you through — just don't make it too fiery.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Dice the chicken and marinate with 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp cornflour for 10 minutes.
- 2Snip the chillies into pieces and shake out the seeds; cut the spring onions into lengths and slice the garlic. Mix the remaining soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, 1 tsp cornflour and 2 tbsp water into a sauce.
- 3Fry the peanuts in a little of the oil over low heat until golden and crisp, then set aside.
- 4Heat the rest of the oil and fry the peppercorns and chillies over low heat until they darken, then add the garlic and chicken and stir-fry over high heat until cooked through.
- 5Pour in the sauce and toss until thick, then add the spring onion and peanuts. Serve with rice.
Cautions
- Chillies and Sichuan pepper are hot and drying — cut back with a sore throat, mouth ulcers or piles.
- Leave out the peanuts if you are allergic to them.
Chef's tips
- Fry the peppercorns and chillies gently — burnt ones turn bitter — and add the peanuts last so they stay crunchy.
The TCM view
Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and supporting qi; Sichuan pepper is pungent and warm, warming the middle, dispelling cold and easing pain; dried chilli is pungent and hot, warming the middle and stirring the appetite; peanuts are sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen; garlic is pungent and warm. Warming overall, it suits yang-deficient types at the Winter Solstice.
