CPK's Kung Pao Spaghetti Copycat Recipe

Peter and I love CPK's Kung Pao Spaghetti so when we found a recipe for it I had to make it. It is spicy, sweet, and delicious! The sauce is really versatile. You can add in any meats or veggies that you like. You can even make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Peter usually has it with shrimp, but I think I would like it with chicken too. 

First things first, we had to gather our ingredients.

I found this thick spaghetti to use instead of regular spaghetti because I like a hearty pasta. I think it makes it more like the one at CPK because they use thick pasta too. 

Peter, being the wonderful person that he is, chopped the garlic for me. 

It is really important to make sure that the pasta is cooked al dente because nobody likes mushy, soggy pasta. That is one thing that we really enjoy about CPK: their pasta is always al dente.

To make the sauce I mixed together the chicken broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry, red chili paste, sugar, red wine vinegar, and sesame oil. The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 3/4 cup soy sauce. The sauce had way too much sesame oil for our taste so to make it taste more like the one at CPK I adjusted the amounts of these ingredients below. It was also too spicy for me so I think the next time I make it I will use less of the chili paste.

The next thing to do is saute the garlic in the oil for about 30-60 seconds.

And add the sauce mixture to the pan with the garlic. If using peanuts (we didn't, but next time will) this is when you would add them.

This is where we started getting excited to eat! Bring the sauce to a boil and then let it cook for about 3-4 minutes.

When it is thickened and darker pour the sauce over the cooked pasta. If you want to add chicken, shrimp, or veggies now is the time. If not, then add the sauce about a third at a time because you might not need to use it all. 

Yum!

You can add the green onions to the cooked sauce or top your pasta with them like we did.

CPK's Kung Pao Spaghetti Copycat Recipe:
1 pound spaghetti

1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic (I would use less, about 1 Tbsp, if you don't like spicy foods, but definitely not eliminate it all together as it would change the taste of the final product)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (can substitute for vegetable, canola, olive, whatever your favorite oil is)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced