One of the most famous Chinese dishes and a perennial foreigner favorite is Kung Pao Chicken (gongbao jiding). This dish first became popular in Sichuan and its legendary origin is a good example of the willingness of Chinese chefs to improvise. However, this tendency sometimes leads to unfortunate dishes like a concoction currently popular in Beijing known as 'deep fried ice-cream on toast'. Gongbaojiding is one of the good ones though.

Ding Baozhen served under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) Emperor Xianfeng as the governor of Shandong province. One day he arrived home with a group of friends, but his cook hadn't prepared for guests, and had but a meager chicken breast and some vegetables in the kitchen. The cook diced the chicken into tiny bits, and fried it up with cucumber, peanuts, dried red peppers, sugar, onion, garlic, bits of ginger - sundry ingredients that had been lying around the bottom of the cupboard.

Ding Baozhen and his guests really enjoyed the improvised meal, so much so that it became a regular item on the menu. Eventually, Ding Baozhen was promoted to Governor General of Sichuan province. His cook w ent with him to Sichuan where he began experimenting with the local produce, including hot broad bean sauce and Sichuan chili peppers. Soon the humble chicken dish was all the rage in the province. The people honored Ding Baozhen by naming the dish after his official name, Gongbao. (His surname 'Ding' has nothing to with the "ding" in gongbaojiding which simply means cube or piece.) The moral of this story is that if you work hard at your craft, like Ding Baozhen's chef, one day a dish will be named after your boss.

以上是关于此菜的故事和传说,据说起源于清朝(1644-1911).广受欢迎的一道川菜。故事大家都知道就不再翻译啦.

原料:

300 克 鸡胸肉 切成1.5公分小丁块

50 克 花生米(如果花生是生的话，先泡水在晾干，然后可以放入烤箱或微波炉撒油和盐就好了。我用的是烤箱350F 20分钟。）

20 克 干红辣椒 切成1.5厘米

2 克 花椒

1 汤勺 生粉拌水

2克 生姜 切片

2 克 蒜 切碎

料汁:

10克 酱油

10克 醋

15克 糖

10克 料酒

1 汤勺生粉勾芡

制作方法:

1.将酱油,料酒,生粉混合入切块的鸡肉里,混合酱油,醋,糖,料酒和生粉混合制成料汁。

2.将花生米泡在热水里去掉表皮，晾干。小火炒到脆熟。

3.大火将干红辣椒和花椒炒到焦出味（如不喜欢拌在菜里可以捞出）。

4.加葱，姜，蒜炒香后加入鸡肉。

5.倒入之前调好的料汁.

6.加入花生米

搅拌,炒熟,出锅.

Ingredients: 
300 grams chicken breasts cut into 1.5cm cubes;
50 grams peanuts
20 grams dry red chili peppers, cut intc
1.5cm sections
2 grams Chinese prickly ash
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with water
2 grams sliced ginger
2 grams diced garlic
2 grams scallions
Sauce:
10 grams soy sauce
10 grams vinegar
15 grams sugar
10 grams Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with water

Mix chicken cubes with soy sauce, salt and cooking wine. Add 1 tablespoon wet starch and mix. Make the sauce by mixing soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and the other tablespoon of wet starch in clear stock Soak the peanuts in warm water for a while. Remove the skin, and
drain. Stir-fry over a low fire until crisp. Put aside for later use.
Heat cooking oil in a wok over a high flame until hot. Add chili peppers and Chinese prickly ash and fry until golden brown.  Add ginger, garlic and scallions and stir.Add chicken cubes and stir to prevent from sticking together. Pour in the sauce and blend well. Add fried peanuts and stir. Remove to a plate and serve.