Wok Kung Pao Chicken with Crushed Peanuts (Sichuan Ma-La Stir-Fry)

Real Sichuan kung pao is not a sweet takeout gloop — it’s a fast, fiery stir-fry where numbing Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies build that signature ma-la tingle, and crushed peanuts crown it with crunch. This is that dish, cooked the way a good wok cook does it: hot, loud and finished in minutes.

It’s one of the 20 recipes inside our Wok Cookbook, and we’re sharing this wok kung pao chicken in full so you can taste the standard before you buy the book. The prep is short and the cook is faster still — six minutes once the oil ripples.

Why this recipe works

The heat management is everything. Toasting the peanuts first in a dry wok deepens their flavour and keeps them crisp; blooming the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns in rippling oil releases the ma-la aromatics before the chicken ever hits the steel. Folding the peanuts in off-heat means they never soften in the sauce — every bite stays crunchy against the tender chicken.

Ingredients

Chicken & sauce

• 350 g chicken thigh, diced 1.5 cm
• 10 g cornstarch
• 20 ml light soy sauce
• 15 ml Chinkiang black vinegar

Ma-La Base

• 12 dried Tianjin chilies, halved
• 5 g whole Sichuan peppercorns
• 15 g fermented black beans (douchi), rinsed
• 60 g raw peanuts, coarsely crushed

Optional garnish

• 2 scallion greens, finely sliced

Serves 2 · Prep 18 min · Cook 6 min · 578 kcal per serving

Instructions

1. Marinate and toast. Toss the chicken with soy and cornstarch; in a cold, dry wok toast the peanuts over medium heat until cinnamon-brown, about 90 seconds, then lift out and reserve.
2. Bloom the ma-la. Heat 3 tbsp peanut oil until rippling, drop in the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and fry 20 seconds until the chilies turn mahogany and the oil smells numbing.
3. Sear the chicken. Add the chicken in one layer and leave it 60 seconds to build a crust, then toss with minced garlic, ginger and douchi; keep the flame high so moisture flashes off the steel.
4. Sauce and fold. Splash the Chinkiang vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar down the hot rim, toss twice, then fold in the peanuts off-heat so they stay crunchy and crown with the scallion greens.

Chef’s tip

Rinse the douchi briefly in warm water then crush it with the flat of your knife; it releases funk without salt-bombing the sauce or clouding the mouthfeel.

Get the full Wok Cookbook

Loved this one? It’s a single recipe from a 20-strong collection of wok cooking built the same way — clear ingredients, exact timings, no guesswork. Grab the full Wok Cookbook below.