Kung Pao Chicken

About

Delicious, succulent chicken thighs are diced up and marinated in a mixture of salt, soy sauce, and sherry wine; they are then stir-fried in toasted dried chilies, garlic, and ginger. The chicken is then tossed into stir-fried green, red, and yellow bell peppers as well as sliced celery and toasted salted peanuts. This is Keto Chinese food at it’s finest! The final dish is then glazed with a sauce made with dark soy sauce, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, and sesame seed oil. You will want to add this to your list of low carb Chinese recipes.

What is Chinkiang vinegar?

Chinkiang vinegar is also known as Chinese black vinegar and is made from wheat bran and the rice hull, and alcohol from glutinous black rice. It has a very distinct flavor. If you cannot find this kind of vinegar, don’t worry, you can use balsamic vinegar.

How hot should my wok be?

Before stir-frying anything, you want to make sure your heat is on high, and the wok is starting to smoke. Be sure to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you begin heating the wok as the wok is going to cook things very quickly once it is hot. If you do not have a wok, you can use a large saute pan instead and heat it the same way.

What if I don’t like spicy food?

If spicy food is not for you, simply remove the dried chilies or reduce the amount by half. If you do like spicy food, but can’t find dried chilies you can top the final dish with sriracha or sambal.

What can I serve with Keto Kung Pao Chicken?

Riced cauliflower would make for an excellent side, find a good recipe here:

Ingredients

5 thigh, bone and skin removed chicken broilers or fryers thigh meat only raw
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt by morton
4 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry cooking wine by holland house
1 teaspoon arrowroot flour
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce by amoy
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chinkiang vinegar by gold plum
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon water
½ cup peanuts
2 slice – 1" diameter ginger
1 tablespoon, chopped garlic
4 gram hot chili pepper, dried, with seeds
1 large – 3" diameter x 3 3/4" red bell peppers, raw
1 large – 3" diameter x 3 3/4" yellow bell peppers, raw
1 large – 3" diameter x 3 3/4" green bell pepper
3 large – stalk – 11" to 12" long celery
2 large scallions
1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil

Instructions

Be sure to prep out all ingredients before heating up the wok. Once the wok is hot all the ingredients will cook very quickly so it is crucial everything is ready to go. Start by dicing the chicken thighs into 1” x 1” pieces and place them into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Top the diced chicken with the marinade ingredients which are 1 tsp kosher salt, 4 tsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sherry wine and 2 tsp arrowroot starch. Mix well to combine and set the chicken aside.
Prepare the stir fry sauce by combining 1 tbsp powdered Swerve, 1 tsp arrowroot starch, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp water. Mix well with a spoon to combine the ingredients. Set aside. Cut each side of the bell peppers off exposing the seeds and stem in the center which can be discarded. Then cut each piece of bell pepper into 1” x 1” pieces. Slice the celery into ½” pieces. Mince the garlic and ginger well (they can be combined into a bowl together), making sure the peel of the ginger is removed first. Also, slice the scallions thin and place them into a bowl. Measure out the chilies and peanuts.
Heat a wok over high heat until very hot and starting to smoke. Add ½ tbsp of avocado oil, swirl the wok and then add the peanuts. Stir them very quickly as they will brown fast. Remove them to a small bowl once they are lightly toasted.
Next, add another ½ tbsp of avocado oil and then the dried chilies. Stir them very quickly so they do not turn dark in spots.
Stir them together quickly and then add the marinated chicken thighs. Cook the chicken thighs until they are starting to separate. Then add half of the sliced scallions plus the garlic and ginger and stir together. Cook the chicken fully. Remove the chicken from the wok to a clean bowl and set aside.
Add another ½ tbsp of avocado oil to the wok and swirl the wok. Add the celery and chopped bell peppers. Stir briefly until they are ¼ of the way cooked through.
Add the chicken back to the wok with the vegetables.
Add the sauce and toss well, stirring occasionally to allow the sauce to glaze all the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the final dish with the rest of the sliced scallions.