Kung Pao Chicken Over Rice
Dried chilies, peppercorns, and peanuts against pouched chicken and instant rice.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant rice | 1 1/2 cups dry | |
|---|---|---|
| Foil-pouch chicken | 2 pouches, 5 oz each | shrimp does not survive without a cooler, so it is out |
| Soy sauce | 3 tbsp | in a leakproof dropper bottle |
| Cornstarch | 1 tbsp | |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Rice wine vinegar | 1 tbsp | or a packet of sherry vinegar if that is what you have |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Vegetable oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Whole dried chilies | 6 to 8 | |
| Sichuan peppercorns | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried bell pepper and celery flakes | 1/3 cup total | |
| Dried scallions | 2 tbsp | |
| Roasted peanuts | 1/3 cup |
Method
- Pour 250 ml of boiling water over the rice in the pot, cover, and set it aside off the heat. It will be done in ten minutes.
- Put the pot back on low with both oils, the chilies, and the peppercorns. Thirty seconds, until you can smell them. Any longer and the chilies turn bitter.
- Add the dried vegetables, garlic powder, ginger, and 150 ml of water. Simmer four minutes until the vegetables give up their crunch.
- Shake the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and cornstarch together in a bottle and pour it in. Stir until it thickens, about a minute.
- Add the chicken straight from the pouch, then fold the rice back in. Top with peanuts.
The original is a wok dish built on high heat and fresh aromatics, neither of which a canister stove offers. What survives the translation is the sauce: soy, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch in the right ratio, which thickens the same on a backpacking stove as it does in a wok. Garlic powder and ground ginger stand in for grated fresh, and dried pepper and celery flakes replace the vegetables that would rot by day two.
Bloom the chilies and peppercorns in oil first. That step is not optional flavor-wise, since it is the only heat you get and it takes half a minute. The shrimp from the source does not travel without refrigeration, so this is chicken only. Peanuts go on last so they stay dry, and the rice steams off-heat while everything else cooks, which keeps it to one pot.
Packing
Dry vegetables, spices, and peppercorns in one bag; cornstarch and sugar mixed with the soy sauce is not shelf-safe, so keep the cornstarch dry and add it to the bottle at camp. Peanuts stay separate so they stay crisp.
Variations
- Swap the chicken pouches for a cup of textured vegetable protein rehydrated in the sauce.
- Ramen noodles instead of rice cook in the same pot, but drain most of the water first or the sauce will not thicken.
- Chili crisp in place of the whole chilies if you would rather not fish them out.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/wok-seared-kung-pao-chicken-and-shrimp