Kung Pao Chicken - Mama Chinese Recipe

Armed with two different experiences of Kung Pao Chicken, it seemed logical that the next step was to try to make my own.  Other than the obvious ingredients - Chicken, Peanuts, Chillies & Soy Sauce - I really didn't know what might make a great home made version of this recipe.

This might not be a scientific method, but when I want to cook a dish that i've never cooked before I usually google the name, and look through the resulting recipes for a picture that looks either tasty or like the version i've had before.

My patience for this process is limited so that's probably how I ended up with this recipe:

http://mamachinesecooking.com/recipes/viewtopic.php?p=54

As you can see by the photo in that recipe, it doesn't really look like the dish i've described previously.  Where's the sauce?!  But in the absence of any other guide I figured it would be a reasonable launching point for my own attempts.

I should be honest here and note that while patience isn't one of my strongpoints, another is following recipes.  Whether it's forgetting to buy specific ingredients or just wilfully ignoring instructions i'm a bit haphazard at times.  The first attempt at this Mama Chinese recipe is no exception.

I ignored the steps with the egg white & corn starch, and because the sauce didn't seem dark enough I used brown sugar and then added some hoisin sauce.  I'd also forgotten to restock in the Black Vinegar department so ended up using Cider Vinegar instead, which was probably a bit daft.  Other than that I wasn't too far off the recipe & method, I even washed my peanuts - but I wouldn't bother doing that again.

The end result wasn't too bad.  In fact it must have been reasonable as I ate the whole lot.  But what I really wanted was the syrupy hot & soy flavoured sauce from my Quanjude experience and this recipe in this form really didn't get there.