Make KOSHER Kung Pao Chicken AT HOME

This year on the Jewish calendar is 5786. On the Chinese calendar, it's 4724, which raises the famous question, for the first 1,062 years, what did the Jews order for takeout? We are going to be making a classic Chinese restaurant dish, a spicy Szechuan dish, fiery Kung Pao chicken. Full disclosure, the version that I'm going to make is very American takeout. That is the taste that I'm going for. That's with purpose. First thing we're going to do is we're going to add sesame oil to a cold wok. And before I start the heat, I want to get a few ingredients ready. I'm going to get my ginger, garlic, and chili peppers going in the wok so that the oil starts to absorb those flavors. I'm going to take like two nice cloves of garlic. I'm going to dice that up. So, Kung Pao actually means palace guardian because there was a palace guardian about 200 years ago who liked chicken dishes, spicy chicken dishes with peanuts. And it's actually a pun. Gong Bao Ji Ding. So, Gong Bao is palace guard. Ji is chicken. Ding is cubed, cubed chicken. And this particular guy's name was Ding. So, what it basically means is a pun with his name and this style of chicken dish. Okay, you see we have the garlic. Okay, next is the ginger. Real ginger, we peel it so it's fresh. What I'm going to do is I'm going to make some strips. And the reason that I make them big, you're going to say this is going to be hard to eat, cuz you're not going to eat it. It's there to flavor the wok. And I do this instead of ginger powder because it's First of all, it's not as fresh. Also, it gives kind of a mealy texture. So, I like the nice fresh slices of ginger, and you're just going to take them out before you serve. And now I have my red peppers, actual full red peppers. Now, we're going to cut up our vegetables. Now, this is very American. I don't think they do this in China. We're going to do two bell peppers, a green one and a red one. They taste basically the same, but visually, I enjoy the variety of colors. I'm going to cut these up. >> [snorts] >> Now, I'm going to pre-mix the sauce. Okay? The sauce is basically soy sauce. Okay? Apple cider vinegar. A little bit more of the toasted sesame oil. I'm also going to pre-mix my cornstarch, which is very important to have that ready and mixed because time is of the essence when it's time to add it. Add some water. Okay. Mix it up. Now, I'm going to have to remix it later because when I'm ready to add it, it's already going to be globbed up. Okay, but I'm ready for that. Now, one more thing. It's a little bit of a secret ingredient. Just a little bit of sugar. And secret ingredient, cocoa powder. Just a little cocoa powder. All right. Now, we're going to get the chicken ready. So, I got this pre-cubed just for convenience. And I'm going to put a little bit of cornstarch right on the chicken breast to make coat it already. And now, I'm going to add a little bit of soy sauce here so I can mix it up. Okay, watch this. Okay, I have a clean glove on. When you're dealing with chicken, by the way, it's not a joke. You got to be really careful with chicken. Okay, and now what Now, we're going to move fast. I'm going to turn on the wok now. Okay. Now, the wok is on. I'm going to build my base. This is my flavor base. So, I got to have my red chili peppers. I need my fresh ginger slices. My garlic, minced garlic. And here's the deal. Very important. I'm putting the peanuts in now. The peanuts are one of the signatures. I put the peanuts in now cuz I want each one of those peanuts to be a little flavor packet. I want it to absorb the red peppers and the garlic and the ginger and carry that flavor in it real strong. Going to add a little bit more toasted sesame oil just cuz I feel like this is looking too dry. Now, this is sizzling nice. Okay. I don't want it to sizzle too much cuz I don't want to burn the garlic. Now, I'm going to add the chicken. Okay, now, very important to continuously stir the chicken so it gets cooked evenly. That's for health reasons as well as for taste reasons. Kung Pao means the Palace Guard. It was named after this specific Palace Guard. He used to serve Kung Pao chicken. He didn't make the chicken. He wasn't the chef. He was the Palace Guard, which is a very high-ranking position, and he used to serve this dish at state dinners to all the dignitaries. And this is a concept in Jewish law. There's a concept in Halakha of food that is Oila Alshulchan Malachim, that a food that is prominent enough that it's served at a state dinner, then in order to be kosher, that it actually has to be prepared by a Jewish chef. So, I mentioned to you Kung Pao means the Palace Guard. The Rambam, Maimonides, writes about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Beit Hamikdash, and he says it's one of the 613 mitzvahs, one of the 613 commandments of the Torah, to place guards around the Temple. And he explains why. He says, "Not because we're afraid of invaders, of warding off foreign armies, but rather it is a mitzvah, it is a divine commandment to place guards around the Holy Temple because he says that a palace that has guards is much more esteemed and honored and revered than a palace without guards." So, when you're eating your Kung Pao chicken, your palace guard chicken, you can remember that mitzvah. The next thing we're going to add, and this is all in order of what we want to get the most cooking. So, these can go in now, the peppers. Okay? Green onions are soft, so I want to be gentle with them. I don't want them to get too much cooking. So, I'm putting them in last. Okay, now the sauce. That's what I'm doing. Okay, this is the sugar and the cocoa powder. Actually, I'm going to mix it in with the soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. And I'm just going to I'm taking it off the flame a little bit. And we're going to do I showed you this before. I told you I'm going to have to remix this. I'm pulling it off the heat. And now Okay. Now, we're going to take some rice, just regular white rice. Okay, so this is the finished effect, and you see it's nice and saucy. That's the point that has sauce. That's from the cornstarch that makes that thickness. It's got great color. You see, you got the green and the red peppers, and of course, the peanuts which pack flavor and also create that crunchy texture. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam sh'hakol nihiyeh bidvaro. >> [snorts] >> Very nice. It's got spice. It's got flavor. It's got sauce. It's not dry. You know, it's got that restaurant takeout feel. You could almost imagine this in little white paper cartons. Probably make it even taste better. So, this is your spicy Szechuan fiery Kung Pao Palace Guard Chicken for you and your family to enjoy.