What to Serve with Kung Pao Mushrooms
Easy Kung Pao Mushrooms To Make At Home
We love to recreate our favorite restaurant dishes at home (see our Easy Orange Chicken, Chicken Chow Mein and Vegetable Stir Fry). We’re making mushroom kung pao, a spicy nutty dish from the Sichuan (sometimes spelled Szechuan) province of China that’s most frequently made with chicken. Kung Pao mushrooms definitely need rice (White or Brown Rice), and some veg–Bok Choy, Hot and Sour Cabbage, and Dry Fried Green Beans are some of our faves.
What is Kung Pao Sauce?
Kung Pao sauce is a savory-sweet sauce made with dried red chili peppers. It is a dish from the Sichuan province in China, known for its spicy cuisine and giant pandas! This soy sauce-based sauce is sweetened with brown sugar to balance the spiciness of the red chili peppers. There’s also raw peanuts (these get toasted in sesame oil), ginger, and garlic.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Kung Pao Mushrooms
Mushrooms – Oyster, maitake, and/or shitake. If you’re a mushroom lover check out our Garlic Butter Oyster Mushrooms as well.
For the sauce – soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and cornstarch
Veggies – bell pepper, green bell pepper, green onions
Raw peanuts
Ginger and garlic
Dried red chili peppers
How to Make Homemade Kung Pao Mushrooms
Make the Kung Pao sauce. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and cornstarch until smooth.
Toss the mushrooms in the Kung Pao sauce.
Cook the mushrooms. This is a two part cooking process–first cook mushrooms undisturbed until golden and crispy on one side, about 4 minutes. Then stir and continue cooking until mushrooms have softened, about 3 minutes more.
Cook the veg and peanuts. Add the bell peppers, then the green onions, peanuts, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers to the skillet.
Thicken the sauce. Add the remaining marinade and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
How to Store Leftover Kung Pao Mushrooms + Tips
Leftovers are best eaten within 3-4 days of preparation. Cooked mushrooms can be frozen in an airtight container for up to three months.
If you’re using cremini mushrooms, cut them into large bite size pieces.
Want to make this super veggie-full? Add eggplant and zucchini–they are both great!
We can’t emphasize this enough–cook mushrooms in a single layer so they don't end up steaming themselves. Check out our How To Dry-Sauté Mushrooms post for more info.
More Great Asian-Inspired Meals From The Modern Proper
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