Healthier Kung Pao Noodles with your choice of chicken, tofu or roasted cauliflower served over noodles. Vegan and GF Adaptable! 

It is a bewildering thing in human life that the thing that causes the greatest fear
is the source of the greatest wisdom.
~C.G. Jung~

This flavorful recipe for Kung Pao Noodles can be made with chicken, shrimp, tofu or my very favorite, roasted cauliflower – a healthier option. A few years back, while visiting China, Brian and I took several  wok cooking classes and got a feel for authentic Kung Pao which is the perfect balance between spicy, tangy, sweet and umami flavors. This is my own simplified version that I like to serve with noodles instead of traditional rice. Keep it vegetarian or add meat — it’s totally up to you. Make sure to read recipe notes for all the options. Vegan and GF Adaptable! 

Tips for Wok Cooking!

PREP AHEAD. Always prep the ingredients first and have them close to the stove. Wok cooking is a very fast process using high heat. You don’t want to be prepping at the same time you are stir-frying, or you may burn your food.

USE HIGH HEAT OIL: Peanut oil adds another layer of flavor, so I prefer using it in the wok. There is also Wok oil and coconut oil.

HEAT THAT WOK!  Turn on your hood fan and let your wok get nice and hot, to the point where your wok is smoking. This adds a delicious smokey flavor to the dish, which is found in Chinese-style wok dishes. Just know with the wok this hot, you will be stirring constantly and vigorously.

In traditional Kung Pao, the meat or tofu is typically seasoned with salt, sugar, pepper and cornstarch and then fried. A way to cut back on the fat and frying in this recipe to use roasted chicken (like rotisserie chicken) or my favorite, roasted cauliflower. Then simply make the flavorful sauce in the wok, adding in and tossing the ingredients to it. Some veggies cook very quickly in a wok, like thin asparagus, thinly sliced bell pepper, mushrooms, snap peas and green beans, and I gravitate towards using these because they only need a few minutes of heat, and you can get away with using only a little oil. But veggies like cauliflower or broccoli which take longer to cook, I either quickly steam or roast first.

Once the ingredients are prepped, the cooking part goes very quickly. The first thing I do is set a pot of pasta water to boil, or rice to cook. Then I prep the ingredients, combine the sauce ingredients and cook the chicken first. Brian likes his chicken crispy, so the corn starch gives it a little crispy crust. Once the chicken is cooked, set it aside and drain on paper towels.

Then add the veggies you want to quickly sear.

Then it’s really just a matter of making the flavorful sauce in the wok and tossing the rest of the ingredients you have into it.  At the very end toss the cooked noodles right into the wok, or serve the Kung Pao overtop or over rice, your choice.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s a fast meal that is full of great flavor.

Wok cooking is one of the fastest meals you can make. Give it a whirl!

Garnish the dish with green onions, sliced on the diagonal and roasted peanuts for added texture.

Here’s the healthy kung pao noodles with roasted cauliflower!

And here it is with chicken…..either way, it will make your mouth very happy! 😉

Let me know how you liked this, please rate and comment below!

xoxoxo

Kung Pao Noodles

★★★★★

4.8 from 5 reviews

Flavorful Kung Pao Noodles with your choice of chicken or roasted cauliflower served over noodles.

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home Blog
• Prep Time: 18 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 3
• Category: Main
• Method: Stir-Fry
• Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken (or sub crispy tofu or cauliflower, see notes below)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
• 1-3 tablespoons peanut oil, coconut or vegetable oil for frying – optional, see notes.
• one red bell pepper – or handful dry red Chinese chilies (see notes)

Kung Pao Sauce:

• 1 ½ tablespoons chopped ginger
• 1 ½ tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce ( or vegan fish sauce, or soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce ( or liquid amino acids)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce ( or soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (black vinegar if you have it, or use rice vinegar or white)
• 1 tablespoon sugar ( or alternative sweetener, honey)
• 1 tablespoon garlic chili paste (Sambal chili paste)

Serve over cooked rice noodles, soba, ramen, linguini….. or rice!

Optional Garnishes: roasted peanuts, crispy shallots, green onions (sliced at a diagonal), chili flakes or Sriacha

 

Instructions

1. If making noodles or rice, start it cooking on the stove.
2. Cut chicken into ½ inch cubes and place in a bowl. Add the salt, pepper, sugar and cornstarch to the chicken and toss. (Alternately — if using cauliflower, roast cauliflower florets in a 450 F oven for 25-30 minutes, with olive oil, salt and pepper – or see notes for more options)
3. Chop ginger, garlic and thinly slice red bell pepper into thin strips.
4. Measure all the condiments and place in a small bowl (water, soy, fish sauce, oyster, vinegar, sugar and garlic chili paste) and give a quick stir.
5. Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat, and when it’s hot, brown the chicken, turning, tossing and cooking through about 5 minutes. (I use a metal mesh splatter guard to prevent oil from going every where.)
6. Turn heat off and place crispy chicken on a plate lined with paper towels, blot. Wipe out wok, add 1 tablespoon oil and heat over medium heat. Add the red bell pepper and sear over medium heat until tender and just slightly charred in places, about 3-4 minutes. Make a well in the center of the bell peppers, add the ginger and garlic and sear (keeping them in the center), cooking and stirring 2 minutes until they are fragrant and golden. You may need to add a few more drops of oil.
7. Add the small bowl of mixed sauces to the wok and bring to a simmer, lower heat, then place the cooked chicken (or roasted cauliflower) back into the sauce and toss well, coating it and heating it back up. Serve over rice, noodles, or add the cooked noodles directly into the wok and sear them for a minute or two. Serve immediately.
8. Garnish with roasted peanuts and sliced scallions.

Notes

Notes: If subbing with crispy shrimp or  tofu, prepare it in the same way as the chicken, blot,  coat with salt, pepper, sugar and cornstarch , and fry in the wok until crispy. Then set aside.

For a lighter version, use roasted cauliflower instead of chicken and add it to the wok with the sauce (at the very end). You, of course, can also add other cooked veggies, tossing with the flavorful sauce. You can sub another sweetener for the sugar, like agave, maple or honey, but flavors won’t be balanced if you leave it out altogether.

Another vegan but ridiculously decadent option is use tempura cauliflower. Steam the cauliflower florets until al dente. Coat in a tempura batter and deep fry until golden and crispy. Toss the cauliflower into the wok at the last very minute into the simmering sauce.- YES- very over the top in terms of calories, but my husband loooooooooves this, so I make this for him, once every couple years. 😉 It makes for a great appetizer too.

*If you use the whole head of cauliflower, you may want to increase the Kung Pao sauce by half so make 1 ½ times the recipe).

*Traditional Kung Pao also includes a handful of red, dried Chinese chilies (Thai red chilies are too spicy) . I usually toss these in at the end with the garlic and ginger, but in this recipe you don’t really need to because of the chili garlic paste. If you do choose to use the dried chilies, add them in right after the ginger and garlic, and decrease the garlic chili sauce in the recipe.

Keywords: kung pao noodles, kung pao chicken, kung pao tofu, kung pao cauliflower

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