When Ding Baozhen was an official in Shandong, he ordered the chef to change the "sauce chicken" of Shandong cuisine into spicy cooking. Later, when he was governor of Sichuan, he popularized this dish and created a delicious dish made of fried chicken, red pepper and peanuts. This delicious dish was originally Ding's private kitchen, but later it became famous in kung pao chicken.
The so-called "Bao Gong" is actually the honorary title of Ding Baozhen. Ding Baozhen ruled Shu for ten years and made many achievements. He died in the eleventh year of Guangxu. In recognition of his achievements, the Qing court posthumously awarded the "Prince of Taibao".
"Prince Taibao" is one of the "treasures in the palace", so in memory of Ding Baozhen, he invented this dish and named it "kung pao chicken". Because this dish is so widely spread, there are many different practices everywhere, and there is even a "Kung Pao diced meat" that turns diced chicken into diced meat. After kung pao chicken spread to the west, West Renye Fang made some improvements according to its own taste, making it a "Western-style kung pao chicken" that conforms to the western taste.
Characteristics of kung pao chicken in Different Places
Kung pao chicken in Sichuan cuisine uses chicken breast. Because chicken breast is not easy to taste, fried chicken is easy to be tender and smooth. Before sizing, you need to beat the chicken with the back of a knife a few times, or put some protein in it, so that the chicken will be more tender and smooth. The raw material of Sichuan cuisine in kung pao chicken must be crispy peanuts and dried Chili Festival, and the taste must be spicy litchi flavor. Chili festival is fried and fragrant, highlighting the spicy taste.
Shandong version of kung pao chicken uses more chicken legs. In order to better highlight the flavor of kung pao chicken, Shandong cuisine also added diced bamboo shoots or horseshoes. Kung pao chicken is similar to Sichuan cuisine, but in order to preserve the freshness of diced chicken, it pays more attention to quick frying.
The kung pao chicken version of Guizhou cuisine uses Bazin pepper, which is different from the Sichuan and Shandong versions. Guizhou cuisine version of kung pao chicken is salty, spicy and slightly sour. Please pay attention to the word "sour", which is one of the important signs to distinguish Guizhou cuisine from Sichuan cuisine.