Delicious Chinese Chicken Curry with tender chicken slices, onions, peppers, and green peas, cooked in homemade curry sauce. Simple, quick, easy, and packed with flavour!
In this post, you’ll learn how to make Chinese chicken curry from scratch with simple everyday ingredients. Simple but the taste is not bland! I can guarantee that!
It takes only 30 minutes to make everything from scratch and you will be amazed by how creamy and flavourful your curry sauce turns out.
What is Chinese Curry
Some might get surprised to hear Chinese and curry as curry is not so Chinese cuisine. But there is a Chinese version of curry and it’s one of the very popular dishes in Chinese takeout and restaurants, in the UK and United States.
This Western-style Chinese curry sauce is very similar to Japanese curry roux and thicker, milder, and sweeter than Indian curries. This curry sauce base is seasoned with curry powder, turmeric, Chinese five spices. Corn starch and plain flour are added to thicken the gravy. While, Indian curry pastes are made basically made from onions, tomatoes, and cream.
I am sure you love this Western version of Chinese Chicken Curry because :
– All ingredients are pantry friendly and you can easily buy them in any supermarket or grocery store.
– Less time-consuming and fast in preparation and cleaning up.
– Can create the aromatic creamy sauce without much hassle.
– Double or triple the amount of this recipe, you can serve your whole family with a minimum budget without ordering from takeout.
– Healthier and tastier than regular takeout curries.
How to make it from scratch
As readymade store-bought, Chinese curry paste is not easily accessible in some states and counties. Many of my viewer friends requested me to share the restaurant-style Chinese curry with onions and peas, I decided to share my tried and tested homemade recipe.
I’ve learned these recipe tips from my Chinese friend and I made some adjustments according to our family preferences. Ingredients in this dish are very versatile and you can customize it according to your taste. Here are a few simple steps you need to make:
1. Homemade curry sauce
To make this creamy flavourful sauce, you will need chicken stock, curry powder, turmeric, Chinese five spices, salt, sugar, corn starch, and plain flour. Gather all these ingredients in a saucepan and stir with low-medium heat until it gets thicken.
Use chicken stock instead of water to achieve the umami curry taste, just like you have had at your favourite restaurant. If you are making a kid-friendly or milder version, you can omit chilli powder.
2. Season the meat
You don’t need wait long hour to marinate. Season the meat with simple soy sauce and fresh ground white or black pepper. That’s it!
I used boneless chicken breast in this recipe. Feel free to use chicken thigh, beef, prawns, or any tender meat you wish! If you are making with beef, use a tender steak cut and add half teaspoon of baking soda in the beef marinade to tenderize the meat.
3. Cooking process
Stir fry the meat and vegetables for few minutes first and pour the curry sauce mix. Onions, peppers, green peas are ideal to add in this dish. Carrots, potatoes, snow peas and mushroom goes well too.
For vegetarian option, substitute chicken with tofu cubes and chicken stock with vegetable stock.
How to serve this dish
We usually serve it over the hot steamed jasmine rice or fried rice and topped with extra chopped spring onions. Pair it with Crispy Fried Wonton, Hot and Sour Soup, Crispy Chilli Beef, or Sweet and Sour Prawn and make it a perfect fakeaway dinner. Your friends and family will impress your Chinese cooking skills!
More of our family’s favourite curry recipes you can try :
- Thai Red Curry Chicken ( Superfast restaurant-style Red Curry with store-bought paste )
- Japanese Chicken Curry ( Must try Japanese curry )
- Easy Butter Chicken Recipe ( Classic Butter Chicken with our simple tips! )
- Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala ( Perfect with basmati rice )
Chinese Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 12 oz Chicken breast Or chicken thigh ( about 350 g )
- ½ Sweet onion sliced
- 1 Bell pepper sliced
- ½ cup Green peas
- Spring onions chopped ( for garnish )
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Garlic ( Chopped )
Chicken Seasonings
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- ¼ tsp White pepper
Curry sauce ingredients
- 1½ cup Chicken stock ( low sodium ) see details in note
- 1 tbsp Curry powder ( use any curry powder mild/hot ) see detials in note
- 1 tsp Chinese five spices powder see details in note
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Chilli powder Or paprika powder
- ½ tsp Salt ( adjust salt according to taste )
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Corn Starch
- 1 tbsp Plain Flour
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast into thin slices, season with a tablespoon of soy sauce and ¼ teaspoon of white pepper. Mix well and set aside.
- Prepare the vegetables by cut the onion and bell pepper into thin slices. Finely chop the garlic cloves.
- In a medium pot, add chicken stock, turmeric, curry powder, Chinese five spices, chilli powder, corn starch, plain flour. Add salt and sugar to taste. Whisk well to dissolve all ingredients evenly.
- Turn the heat on and cook with medium-low heat, stir continuously until the sauce start to get thicken. Once the sauce is start to get thicken, turn off the heat and set aside. Keep it warm.
- In a large pan or skillet, drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of oil, add the chicken slices and stir fry with medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until cooked through.
- Push the chicken to one side of pan and add the chopped garlic in. Stir for few seconds and follow with the onion, pepper slices and green peas. Stir well and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the curry sauce in, stir well to combine the sauce and all ingredients evenly. Let it cook for another 1-2 minutes. ( If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of warm water or chicken stock. Adjust the sauce thickness according to your preference. )
- Make a taste test and extra salt or sugar to your taste, if needed.
- Remove from heat and transfer to serving plate. Serve immediately.
- Serve over a bowl of steamed rice, garnish with chopped spring onions and make it a delicious meal.
Notes
- Curry powder – I’ve used Madras curry powder in this recipe. Feel free to use any brand of curry powder mild or hot for this recipe. You can add Chinese Mayflower curry powder if you can easily get it at your local grocery stores.
- Chinese Five Spices – is a powder mixture of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel. You can find it in most Chinese/Oriental grocery stores.
- Chicken Stock – Add low sodium chicken stock Or vegetable stock to bring more umami flavour to the dish.
If you wish to add water, add 1 teaspoon of chicken powder in the curry sauce to taste exactly like you’ve had at the restaurants. But that is totally optional. - Can I use readymade curry paste? You can use Mayflower curry paste or any Chinese curry paste/block. Cook the sauce according to the instructions and pour it into the cooked chicken and vegetables.
Nutrition
If you enjoy our recipe, please leave a comment and give us a rating! If you’ve tried this recipe, tag me on social media, I would love to see your creations! Follow me on social media Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for the latest updates.
Teresa Whittaker says
i made this last night oh my it was so good thank you for the recipe just a quick question is one cup 240ml?
Khin says
Hi Teresa, thank you so much for trying out. Glad that you enjoyed it. It is correct one cup is about 240 ml.
Andy says
Recent convert to Chinese cooking…being doing Indian for years and thought it time to branch out! Simple fabulous tasting recipes … bravo!
One question would this work as a veggie option, swapping out the chicken stock for veg stock and the chicken for mushrooms?
Khin says
Hi Andy, so glad that you enjoy this Chinese Chicken Curry recipe. Tofu, Quron meat, eggplant, paneer, mushroom, cauliflower can be used instead of meat, and vegetable stock is a great substitute for chicken stock.
Nicole McGuire says
Very good! A bit fiddly the first time you make it but well worth the effort.
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed it Nicole! Thank you so much for taking time and sharing feedback!
Karen Odegard says
When I made this the first time, there was barely enough for the two of us lol! So I was told to double the recipe next time I made it, which I did yesterday….now I have a bit in the freezer for a rainy day for him to take in to work.
Yvonne says
This recipe is delicious! My husband and I just enjoyed a plateful each, mine with rice and hubby had chips! Thank you. 😁
Christina says
Delicious and simple to put together! My husband gobbled it up lol
Stacey says
This was great, my husband who is not a curry fan really enjoyed it. Def make again.
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed this Chinese Chicken curry recipe Stacey! Thank you so much for sharing comment!
Pablo says
Very nice Khin, delicious dish ?
Robert Mclear says
How much flour and corn starch do you need?
Khin says
Hi Robert, 1 tsp Corn Starch and 1 tbsp Plain Flour. Updated in the recipe card. Sorry for late reply.
Ian says
Delicious curry. Used a pot chicken stock and was careful of salt. Added more sugar to get a sweeter taste and a medium curry powder.
Khin says
That sounds so delicious Ian! Very glad you that enjoyed.
Steve Shaw says
The soy sauce for the chicken is it light or dark? Thank you. Love lots of your recipes
Khin says
Hi Steve, you can use light soy sauce or all purpose soy sauce. So glad that you enjoy our recipes. Thank you so much for trying out.