Kung Pao Chicken

Marinate the chicken: In a medium bowl, stir together the soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved.

Add the chicken and stir gently to coat.

Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Prepare the sauce: In another bowl, combine the blackvinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, and Sichuan pepper. Stir until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved and set aside.

You may need to turn on your stove's exhaust fan, becausestir-frying dried chilies on high heat can get a little smoky.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact.

Add the peanut oil and swirl to coat the base.

Add the chilies and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, or until the chilies have just begun to blacken and the oil is slightly fragrant.

Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the scallion whites, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry forabout 30 seconds.

Pour in the sauce and mix to coat the other ingredients. Stir in the peanuts and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle the scallion greens on top, and serve.

Reprinted with permission from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook by Diana Kuan, © 2012 Ballantine Books

Diana Kuan, is a food writer and cooking instructor who has taught Chinese cooking in Beijing and New York. Her writing on food and travel has appeared in The Boston Globe, Gourmet, Food & Wine, and Time Out New York, among other publications. She has appeared on the CBS Early Show and other broadcast media. She is the author of the blog www.appetiteforchina.com, which has more than 6.5 million page views, and teaches Chinese cooking at Whole Foods and the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE) in New York, where she currently resides.