Gongbao Chicken With Cashews (Gongbao Jiding, 宫保鸡丁)
Published May 24, 2026, Updated Jun 05, 2026
The Do’s and Don’ts of Kung Pao
When I first published this recipe for gongbao (kung pao) chicken, in May 2016, The Mala Market blog had just turned two years old. Now that it’s 12 years old, the recipe has received a thorough refresh, with more instructions and photos and a slightly altered recipe.
The immediate goal when I started this blog was to be a better mom to my immigrant daughter by being a better Sichuan home cook. I did it in blog form because I thought that if I committed publicly I’d be far more likely to stick with it. This particular recipe was No. 27 in my self-styled “Chengdu Challenge.”
And it worked! Two years on, I was a much better Chinese cook and had a significantly happier Chinese daughter. Fongchong still refused to eat traditional American food, but her home, at least, tasted like China.
Fast forward a decade, and we still eat Sichuan dishes at home all the time, but not because that’s all my grown daughter will eat, but because we love them now as much as we did then. Dishes as unique and satisfying as gongbao chicken (gōng bǎo jī dīng, 宫保鸡丁)—chicken cubes and roasty nuts in a sweet-and-sourish sauce with a mild kick of chilies and Sichuan pepper—never get old!
Better known outside China as kung pao chicken, gongbao jiding is the classic representative of lìzhī wèi (荔枝味), or litchi flavor profile, one of Sichuan’s 20+ complex flavor combinations, known as fùhé wèi (复合味). Litchi wei does not incorporate litchi fruit but is described as “resembling litchi, with a well-balanced sweet-and-sour taste” in the Encyclopedia of Sichuan Cuisine. It should be slightly sour and slightly sweet and well-balanced between the two. This is one of the few famous Sichuan dishes that is somewhat sweet, but don’t overdo it. I’ve had many overly sweet gongbao dishes, including in Sichuan, but it’s really best when the two complement each other and the dish remains slightly tart.
The surprise in this litchi flavor is the scorched chilies and Sichuan peppercorns that give it an edge and a buzz. Gongbao jiding is one of many well-known dishes that are a combination of two Sichuan fuhe wei, in this case litzi wei and hula wei (húlà wèi, 糊辣味), or scorched chili flavor.
Named after a Qing Dynasty Sichuan governor who had a previous honorific title of Palace Guardian, or Gongbao, gongbao jiding was known during the Cultural Revolution as hula jiding (scorched chili chicken cubes), according to Fuchsia Dunlop in The Food of Sichuan. Rather than ban a dish with imperial connotations—and be deprived of gongbao chicken—the Red Guards simply renamed it!
The Must-Have Ingredients for Gongbao Chicken
Sichuan’s litchi flavor is made from black vinegar and sugar, along with salt. I like a robust but slightly sweet black vinegar like Zhenjiang or Shanxi, though Sichuan’s more herbal and savory Baoning vinegar is also great. The hula flavor is made by toasting dried chilies and Sichuan pepper in oil—preferably Sichuan’s toasty and highly aromatic caiziyou.
Another major flavor in gongbao chicken is nuts, usually peanuts—and they should be treated as the indispensable ingredient they are. I learned a tip long ago from cooking with my friend Chef Qing Qing in Chengdu that I think makes all the difference: The first and most important step in the recipe is to start with raw peanuts, or cashews, and fry them yourself until golden brown. It transforms the dish, because freshly cooked nuts taste more fresh, more toasty, more nutty—and don’t taste like you’ve tossed your freebie airplane snack into your otherwise lovingly constructed dish.
Note that while peanuts are the most common nut for the dish, I prefer cashews—fried the exact same way!—because I love the contrast of the rich, buttery nut with the slightly acidic sauce. It’s the luxury version of gongbao.
Another Qing Qing tip: Cut the jiding, or chicken cubes, in small dice. They should be similar in size to the nuts and chili peppers, not large and chunky. Larger pieces take longer to stir-fry and have less sauce per bite, affecting both texture and taste.
How to Stir-Fry Gongbao Jiding
Traditionally, this dish is a xiaochao, or small stir-fry, meaning the whole thing is made in one go in the wok, with no pre-cooking of ingredients required. However, as mentioned above, pre-cooking the nuts is definitely worth the extra step. I’ve also found that even when the chicken pieces are quite small, it is difficult to get the chicken cooked without overcooking the other ingredients. It’s actually easier and more foolproof to cook and remove the chicken before starting the final stir-fry.
Either way, the stir-fry begins with the “hula flavor” of the dish, by stir-frying dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns in oil until they are fragrant, toasty and browned (not burned!). Toasting them in Sichuan’s roasted rapeseed oil (caiziyou) makes for a bitter, smoky base that adds complexity to the sweet and sour flavors. A generous portion of minced garlic and ginger do the same.
Though, like all Americans, I’m guilty of trying to make any dish into a one-pot meal, I never add extraneous ingredients like bell peppers and celery to this dish, as some cooks do. Scallions are sufficient. But if you want to add other vegetables, just reduce the chicken proportionally.
As I’ve previously discussed, you can gongbao many things—my take on gongbao lotus root is here. You can also substitute shrimp to delicious effect. Just remember that different ingredients and amounts of ingredients might necessitate different amounts of sauce, which you can judge as you are adding it in at the end. There shouldn’t be pools of sauce on the plate—the cornstarch thickens the sauce to cling to the ingredients—but you also don’t want to be stingy with this genius concoction.
For more classic recipes with tips and tricks from real-deal mainland chefs, see posts like my Chengdu Stir-Fried Rice or The Queen of Mapo Doufu Recipes (Mapo Tofu) and Chongqing Chicken Like It’s Made in Chongqing.
Gongbao Chicken With Cashews (Gongbao Jiding, 宫保鸡丁)
Ingredients
For chicken marinade
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken (thigh or breast meat)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For nuts
- 2 tablespoons caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil) (or other cooking oil)
- ½ cup unroasted, unsalted cashews (or raw skinless peanuts)
For stir-fry
- 12 (or more) dried medium-hot red chilies (preferably zidantou or erjingtiao)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 6 scallions, cut in ½-inch lengths, whites and greens separated
- 3 tablespoons Zhenjiang black vinegar (or Shanxi mature vinegar)
- 3 tablespoons chicken stock (or water)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon Chinese light soy sauce (preferably Zhongba)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil), divided
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
Instructions
- Prep ingredients for the stir-fry. Tear or snip chilies into pieces and shake out the seeds. Leave smaller chilies whole. Mince the ginger and garlic and cut the scallions.
- Mix sauce ingredients together in a measuring cup or small bowl: vinegar, chicken stock, sugar, light soy sauce, wine, cornstarch and salt.
- Cut chicken into small cubes of ½ inch, and no larger. Marinate chicken cubes with wine, soy sauce, cornstarch and salt while you fry the nuts.
- Heat wok until hot and add 2 tablespoons caiziyou (or other cooking oil). Immediately turn heat to medium and add nuts to cold oil. Slowly stir-fry until nuts are toasty brown all over. Turn down heat if they are browning too quickly, and watch closely so they don't burn. Remove from wok and drain on paper towel. They will firm up and become crunchy when cool. (Don't be tempted to substitute roasted nuts or skip this step; it makes all the difference.)
- Clean wok and heat over a high flame until very hot (which keeps the chicken from sticking). Add ¼ cup oil, swirl around the pan and add the chicken cubes. Spread the chicken out around the wok, and let the pieces sear on one side. Flip the chicken and let sear on the other side. Stir-fry until chicken is just cooked through. Remove chicken from wok and hold.
- Clean wok and return to heat. When wok is hot, add 2 tablespoons fresh oil and heat briefly on a medium flame. Add chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry quickly, toasting but not burning them. Add the scallion whites, ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add the chicken cubes and the sauce and stir-fry to mix. As the sauce thickens, add the scallions greens and fried nuts and cook briefly until all ingredients are well combined.
Tried this recipe?
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The blog is just great. Ever since you arranged a great tip to Sichuan a few yearrs ago I have followed you avidly. Please carry on the good work!
Thank you, Michael! You guys were one of our very first and best clients. It means a lot to me that you’re still following all these years later.
Oh boy! A few years ago I went to Chengdu and omg, what great food!!!! I want to make all of your recipes now but I don’t eat meat so I will substitute some things.
Thank you, Barbara. Try it with lotus root!
Hi, Barbara. I’ve been making veggie versions of this, and many of Taylor’s dishes, on the regular, for years now. I love her recipe using lotus root but also make it with extra firm tofu (diced small, marinated and wok fried until just starting to crisp up), marinated tempeh and even Gardein brand’s “chicken.” All have been spectacular. I spent some time in Chengdu when I worked in government many years ago and fell in love with the cuisine. I cannot imagine living without these dishes even though I am now meatless as well. Incidentally, I also went to culinary school years ago and learned that a handful of diced celery cooked into a veggie dish makes it taste more savory and helps sell the illusion of meatiness. Though it’s not a traditional ingredient it works to great effect in this dish and many of the others.
Thanks for this insight, Robert! I’m quite happy to know that you have successfully made many of our recipes vegetarian. This also reminds me that that’s something we need more of on our site.
Hi, Taylor! I first found your site while looking for a Mabo dofu recipe that was like the ones I remembered from Chengdu. It was just what I was looking for. I quickly moved on to your dan dan mian and yu xiang eggplant recipes and have since made most of the others. Thanks for all of your hard work and great recipes! I wouldn’t turn down some more veggie recipes either.
It truly makes me happy that you’ve tried so many of the recipes and they’ve worked for you. I’ve got a new veg recipe coming up this week and will try to do more. I take requests!
Thanks for creating one of the best English language Sichuan resources on the web!
And thank YOU for your comments over the past couple years.I appreciate your sticking around!
One of my favorite dish !
Try it once with one tablespoon of tian mian jiang in the sauce.
Sub, my other great source of feedback. Thanks for the tip!
Would you like to write an article for the Chinese food magazine titled: FLAVOR AND FORTUNE; if so send it to PO BOX 91 Kings Park NY 11787; this magazine is coming to the end of its 23rd year; the first 19 are now free and available at: http://www.flavorandfortune.com the last four years still have hard copy and will get there when sold out.
Jacqueline M. Newman, editor-in-chief
Hi Jacqueline! I know your amazing magazine, of course, and you even helped me once years ago with tracking down some obscure Chinese info. I can’t imagine there’s anything your publication hasn’t covered, but I’ll give it some thought. Thanks so much for the offer!
in chengdu. eating up a storm. cooking class at museum of sichuan cuisine fantastic! trying desperately to locate the Cookbook from the culinary school….can you advise? thanks for all the recipes, have shared your site with friends here in chengdu.
Glad to hear our friends at the Sichuan cuisine museum have an excellent class. It is a new offering for them.
The cookbook is out of print, but several people have told me they have found copies on Chinese websites for sale. Good luck!
Hi Kathleen, Try this bookstore based in Hong Kong: http://www.purpleculture.net/china-sichuan-cuisine-in-chinese-and-english-p-5095/ They claim to have the original edition as well as the new 2nd edition in stock.
Hi I am new to the site but in the 2 months after finding the chilli oil recipe I have now explored most of your recipes and can happily inform you that all my friends are enjoying the fruits of my cooking your recipes as well lol Keep up the good work and I eagerly look forward to each new installment. Lots of love from 1770 Australia
I admit I had to Google 1770 Australia, but was happily surprised to see it is a town. So cool to hear you are cooking my recipes there. I’m glad you’re enjoying them. Thanks so much for writing!
I am so grateful for the recipes you offer on you blog. I live in Qingdao and the only Chinese food I eat is Sichuan cuisine! Thank you for sticking with the blog!
Qingdao! Where there’s plenty of beer to cool down your Sichuan food. Always happy to hear from expats, and really appreciate your kind words.
The Best tip I ever learned about gong bao recipe, from NYT — always use an egg white as part of the shaoxing marinade. It creates a velvety texture you can’t get otherwise– I also dust the chicken pieces in cornstarch as a separate step before adding to marinade. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11619-gong-bao-jiding
Also, do the chicken in batches if cooking larger amounts – turns out best when wok/oil heat stays very high- one layer of meat! Overcrowding kills this dish more easily than most.
Totally agree- always use thigh meat.
Personally, as I heat the wok initially, I add the dry sichuan peppercorns to toast them, then grind them to sprinkle in at the end, as a powder, using a sieve to remove the husks.
Great post!!
That’s a very odd recipe for gong bao ji ding: no dried chilies, no Sichuan pepper, and NO PEANUTS or nuts of any kind. But when I read the accompanying story, I realized it’s the version made in Guizhou. Interesting to know how different they are!
I’l have to try it with egg white. And I agree about not overcrowding, though one pound (450 grams) of chicken should easily spread out in one layer in a wok without overlapping, and I wouldn’t recommend ever using more than one pound of meat in one dish.
Thanks for the REALLY authentic version of gong Bao Ji ding – so similar to what the late great teacher, Fu Pei Mei, taught me in Taipei years ago. She used an additional ingredient: ‘dregs’ from the bottom of a soy sauce barrel. This was a concentrated syrup that added a wonderfully rich flavor to the dish. I used to buy it in the old days at Hsin Yi Road Market, but have never seen it in the USA. Any idea where this might be available?
Wow, that sounds like an awesome secret ingredient! I have certainly never seen it in the U.S., but there aren’t many soy sauce makers here (that I know of). Maybe you can befriend someone at Wanjashan http://www.wanjashan.com/. 🙂 So glad you found the recipe to be like one you have great memories of.