Kung Pao Sauce

Name: Kung Pao Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: about ¼ cup (75 ml)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Shaoxing (30 ml) Shaoxing; 1 tbsp hoisin (15 ml) Hoisin; 2 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar (30 ml) Black Vinegar; 2 tsp sugar (10 ml) Sugar

Independent adaptation of a publicly published Melissa King recipe. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Melissa King.

STIR-FRY SAUCE · STIR-FRIES & NOODLES

A stir-fry sauce for stir-fries & noodles.

King's Kung Pao sauce for stir-fries.

On the jar

KUNG PAO

Method: shake
Yield: about ¼ cup
Ingredients: 4
Jar batch: 3.2× recipe

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Ratio

SHAOXING 30 mlBLACK VINEGAR 30 mlHOISIN 15 ml

Ingredients

Shaoxing2 tbsp Shaoxing (30 ml)
Hoisin1 tbsp hoisin (15 ml)
Black Vinegar2 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar (30 ml)
Sugar2 tsp sugar (10 ml)

Where it sits

One of 161 pan sauces in the catalog, with 4 ingredients against a median of 6.

The acid here is black vinegar. In this category chefs also reach for rice vinegar (15 recipes), lemon juice (12), and red wine vinegar (9).

Method

Pour to the lines in order (bottom → top): SHAOXING, BLACK VINEGAR, HOISIN.
Shake-to-line (dashed marks): add SUGAR. Spoon in, shake, and top up until the settled level reaches each dashed line.
Cap the jar and shake until emulsified.

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Keep this recipe

4 ingredients. One pour.

You found this recipe once. On a PantryFlex jar it's printed in glass. Short list, short shake, same ratio every time.

4 kitchens · 5 national awards

Kung Pao SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: KUNG PAO
Rice Wine Pan SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: SHAKING BEEF
Pad See Ew SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: PAD SEE
Soy Sake Mirin MarinadeNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: SOY SAKE MIR

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Provenance

Melissa King is a cookbook author working in Chinese-American / Top Chef; recognized with James Beard Book Award 2026 (Cook Like a King).

Adapted from a Melissa King recipe (Melissa King / Kohler event PDF).

FAQ

Can this go in a shake jar?

Yes. Its liquids pour to printed fill-lines, so it can be one of the sauces on a PantryFlex jar.

What do the quantities mean?

This page lists the published recipe in household units (with metric in parentheses). A PantryFlex jar makes a 3.2× batch of it. The jar's printed lines, counts, and QR guide are already scaled to match, so follow the jar or this page, not a mix of both. Amounts in the jar’s ADD row are rounded to the nearest common spoon measure (T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon) so they can be read off the glass.

Where did this recipe come from?

Adapted from Melissa King / Kohler event PDF (published as “Kung Pao Sauce”). Full citation lives in Provenance.

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