[cw00d]

I am trying to cook Kung Po chicken that is a little sweet but spicy. I have the flavor close but can't seem to get the crispy outside like at PF Chang. Any help here would be REALLY greatful. What am I missing?

[boar_d_laze]

It's hard to tell what you're doing wrong, if you don't say what you're doing. Also, I've never eaten at a P.F. Chang's. That having been said, wok food is all about preparation. The most basic techniques are having a complete mise en place ready; and cooking things separately then assembling your dish in the wok.

If you want crisp chicken, you have to marinate it, remove from the marinade, and toss it in corn-starch to coat. Bring oil to heat in your wok, and chow the chicken in small batches. Fry each batch until crisp, remove, drain, until all the chicken is fried. Reserve the chicken and chow (stir fry) the rest of the of the dish. Make the sauce in the wok with the peanuts, chile, etc., still there. When the sauce boils and the corn-starch brings it together, return the chicken to the wok and toss to mix. Don't let the food sit at all. Get it out of the wok and onto a plate, immediately.

Hope this helps,
BDL

[Blueicus]

As boar_d_laze says, the key is to just give your fried items a brief toss in the sauce, plate and eat immediately. Any food of that nature goes soggy the longer you let it sit, there's no way around it. The key to stir fried and deep fried food is freshness, eat it while it's hot

[linguini]

Hi, heres a great recipe for Kung Po Chicken.

orientalcookbook.co.uk/chinese.php?recipe=79

[phatch]

Most chinese restaurants use a technique called passing. The meat is passed through a generous amount of hot oil, usually in small batches. This is like a short deep fry. BDL's post touches on this though chowing uses much less oil. The meat is then removed and held until it's time to add it back in.

You might also try holding corn starch coated chicken the in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before passing it. I'd have thought this would lead to a soggy coating, but it hasn't in my experience but I'm in a low humidity climate.

Phil