Culinary Adventures: Kung Po Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

I'm not a big fan of fusion food but one dish that's got me fascinated many years ago is the Kung Po Spaghetti from California Pizza Kitchen. I mean, it's not like rocket science, combining one of China's greatest Szechuan dishes with a western noodle(which technically originated from China anyway) but there's something about this robustly flavored slippery noodle combined with the crunchy nuts and tender chicken cubes soaked in a hot tangy sauce that's really best eaten fresh from the wok.

So here's today's adaptation after referring to a few websites for the recipe. With some trial and error, I've added a few seasoning ingredients of my own so I guess this ranks as an original!

(Btw, there are prepared versions of Kung Po sauces out there by certain brands but to be honest, some are rather dodgy in taste. So like the true culinary professional that I am *roll eyes*, I've decided to make mine from scratch instead.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

150g chicken, sliced into cubes

8 medium prawns (or 5 large prawns, sliced into 2)

About 1/2-2/3 a packet of spaghetti (any other kind of pasta like fusilli or macaroni would probably work as well but quantities may vary)

Garlic (sliced into thin pieces)

Ginger (sliced into thin pieces)

Dried chilli pieces (comes in a packet, soak about 5 chilis in hot water, deseed and cut into 1 cm pieces)

2 tbsp of peanuts

Marinade:

1 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp rice wine

Sauce:

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 1/2 tbsp dark caramel sauce

1 1/2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 1/2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp honey (optional)

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice wine

2/3 cup water

and 1 tsp cornflour(with about 1 tbsp of water to thicken)

Boil the spaghetti in a pot of water with 1 tsp of salt for about 10 minutes or till al dente. Remove and wash in tap water. 

Marinade the chicken for about 30 minutes. Heat up about 2 tbsp of oil in the wok, stir fry the chicken till it still looks slightly pink (about 70% cooked) and remove from wok. Heat up another 2 tbsp of oil, fry the garlic and ginger for under a minute, then add in the dried chili pieces. Fry for another minute then add in the chicken. Stir-fry a bit, add in the prawns, then add in the seasoning. Add in the thickened cornflour and let simmer for about 1 minute. 

Add in the peanuts and coat with sauce. Then add the prepared spaghetti into the sauce and using a pair of large chopsticks(or BBQ tongs), stir the noodles around till it gets evenly coated. Add more soya sauce/vinegar to taste if necessary. 

So the dish doesn't taste exactly like CPK's but the sauce actually tastes closer to the real Szechuan dish than that one does. And according to the folks and the helper who said it was "VERY NAAICE!", I suppose it's a pass. :P