No.53 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Kung pao chicken

Made famous by Fuchsia Dunlop

Photo: Steven G. Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Land of Plenty, 2001.

Sichuan's gong bao ji ding is one of the most ordered Chinese dishes in the world. Dunlop's recipe is the real thing: no bell peppers, no celery.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Land of Plenty.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless chicken breasts or 3 thighs (about 12 oz, 350 g), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• For the marinade: 1/2 tsp fine salt, 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp water
• For the sauce: 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar, 1 tsp light soy, 1 tsp dark soy, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp chicken stock or water, 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 6 to 10 dried red chiles, cut into 3/4-inch pieces, seeds shaken out
• 1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
• 3 garlic cloves and an equal amount of ginger, thinly sliced
• 5 scallions, white parts only, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2/3 cup (75 g) roasted unsalted peanuts

Steps

1. Mix the chicken with the marinade and leave while you prepare the rest.
2. Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add the oil, then the chiles and Sichuan pepper. Stir-fry a few seconds until the chiles darken to deep red and smell toasty; don't let them blacken.
4. Quickly add the chicken and stir-fry over high heat, separating the pieces.
5. When the chicken turns white, about 2 minutes, add the garlic, ginger and scallions and stir-fry 1 minute more, until the chicken is just cooked.
6. Give the sauce a stir, pour it in and toss 15 to 20 seconds as it thickens to a glossy coat.
7. Toss in the peanuts and serve at once with rice.

Chef's tips

• Have every ingredient by the stove before you start; the cooking takes 4 minutes.
• The chiles are for flavor; most people don't eat them.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop: get the book, No. 15 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 52Pot roast→ No. 54Mapo tofu