As you all know, I am to stir frying as man is to nature. I have dominion over it. But the one dish which has eluded me is, sadly, my favorite: Kung Pao. I can't seem to get the sauce right. For awhile, I was relying on a bottled version from Trader Joes, but they stopped carrying that little jar of spicy transcendence, and so now I'm back to trying to make it myself. Sorry, I should rephrase. I'm back to trying to perfect it myself. Today was Attempt Alpha. I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe (though I substituted tofu for chicken, Chinese rice wine for sherry, and added onion), which is copied below the fold. The product looked like this:
Sadly, it wasn't very good, or at least as good as it should've been. The sauce came out overly brothy, and without sufficient kick or flavor. Next time, I'm putting the chilis in at the beginning rather than the end, reducing the liquid, upping the proportion of oyster sauce, and adding some chili oil. Will let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if anyone's figured out how to produce a perfect Kung Pao, they should head on over to the comment section and share some wisdom.
Sadly, it wasn't very good, or at least as good as it should've been. The sauce came out overly brothy, and without sufficient kick or flavor. Next time, I'm putting the chilis in at the beginning rather than the end, reducing the liquid, upping the proportion of oyster sauce, and adding some chili oil. Will let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if anyone's figured out how to produce a perfect Kung Pao, they should head on over to the comment section and share some wisdom. 
