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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Another great dish, Taylor. Made this for two picky eaters on Friday and they gobbled it up. Next Saturday 6 friends are coming over and we are doing a “cook-off” between this and the Lao Gan Ma Black Bean Chicken. Can’t wait to see which one wins among my friends. Enjoy your travels and keep up the great work!
Thanks, Jim! I’d love to know the results from your cook-off. Maybe you can substitute shrimp in one dish and let them both win. 🙂
Looks similar to how I’ve been making it for a year or so after finding various recipes and guides online. One thing that stands out to me about your take on this recipe is the amount of vinegar. I usually use 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons per pound of chicken and just slightly less than a 1:1 ratio for the sugar (heaping tablespoon). Besides the peanuts, I think that the vinegar/sugar combo is what gives this dish its primary flavor. The lack of doubanjiang/tianmianjiang/douchi lets the sweet and sour flavor take center stage. I am going to up the vinegar a bit to see how it turns out.
Hi David,
I probably do use more vinegar those most recipes. Sometimes gong bao dishes are quite sweet, but I personally prefer sour, so I err on the side of vinegar. To each his own gong bao. 🙂
We made this tonight for our Chinese exchange student and it was a great hit with her and with us! Excited to try more recipes!
Glad you could provide her with a little taste of home. Thanks for letting me know!
Dear Taylor,
You are a breath of fresh air and somewhat of an answered prayer. 🙂 I have read these posts or blogs or whatever they are and find my mouth is watering for these delicious Sichuan treats. I am not sure how all this works (I am challenged in this arena, but I love Sichuan food. The other day I replied to you about Ganbian si ji Dou but I doubt you got it. I crave that dish as well. I have lots of questions to ask you, please tell me how I go about doing that! Best regards,
Richard
Thank you for the kind words, Richard. I can’t find your green bean questions, but feel free to email me at taylor @ blog.themalamarket.com (no spaces). Or if you think others might benefit from your questions, it’s best if you comment on the actual post. Try again?
If I may say, please add my humble change to your recipe. Eliminate the salt in the sauce and in step 5 add 1 tablespoon of Pixian doubanjiang to the oil first, stirring constantly. The salt in the doubanjiang eliminates the need for it in the sauce. Once the oil is red, then add the la jiao (chili’s) and hua jiao (Sichuan peppercorns). This is how my wife’s family in Chengdu makes it.
Hi Vince,
That’s interesting. I’ve never seen a recipe for gong bao with doubanjiang in it, since it’s supposed to be a light sweet-and-sour sauce. But I’m sure there are a million ways to make it. And douban is never a bad idea. Thanks for the tip!
One recipe I’ve been hunting for for a decade is a Gong Bao Beef like the one at Chia Shiang in Ann Arbor, MI. One of my all-time favorite dishes, and since we moved away I’ve found nothing remotely like it in an hour’s drive, nor in any recipe I’ve found in a cookbook or online. My own attempts to make it always fall short. (That said I haven’t gone through the new edition of Dunlop to see if it is there.)
In my memory: generous beef, an overload of peanuts, minimal but perfect sauce. Not evident in the picture below, my memory says it also had generous quantities of thinly sliced garlic and green onions.
Here’s a link to Lisa Leutheuser’s photo of the dish:
https://leutheuser.blogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/28/leutheuser_20080413_0015_4.jpg
Does this ring any bells as something you’ve seen in your food adventures?
Can’t say I’ve had gong bao beef. Have you tried making it with the gong bao chicken recipe, just substituting beef? If they’ve named it gong bao, you would assume they used the typical gong bao sauce and peanuts.
Hi Taylor,
I’ve arrived at The Mala Market several years late, but better late than never. You are an inspiration. And a great writer, as well. Now I’m ready to make all of your dishes, starting with this one.
Do you have a Gong Bao Tofu recipe? If not, is it possible to use tofu with this technique? I’m going to look at online recipes that use tofu, then use whatever technique seems best for the tofu in addition to your ingredients. Do you recommend Caiziyou or peanut oil? I’m not a vegetarian, I just love tofu. Especially with dried chilies, good sauces, and great rice.
Hi Hollis, thanks for reading. We do not have a gong bao tofu recipe specifically, but you’re welcome to freestyle however you please. Perhaps you could try pan-frying firm tofu (I like to slice them in triangles) and then adding it to the stirfry near the end. We love caiziyou for stirfries, this recipe was just written before we started carrying caiziyou for purchase. Let us know how it works for you!
Hey Taylor,
I know I haven’t written in a while,. But we are sitting here enjoying this for the ump-tenth millionth time. It is one of my all time favorites. I know you have been at this a while, but PLEASE keep up the good work. Love your stuff and am always anxious to try your new recipes!
Jim, thanks for sharing your feedback and support! This one’s an old but favorite classic for sure!