Szechuan Chicken Recipe
Easy Szechuan Chicken Recipe with crispy coated chicken tossed with vegetables, dry chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and flavourful seasonings.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 419kcal
Ingredients
- 500 g Chicken thigh boneless skinless ( cut into bite-size cubes )
- 1 Onion cut small dices
- 1 Bell pepper cut small squares
- 1 tbsp Garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Ginger cut into thin strips
- 3 Spring onion cut into 1" pieces
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns toasted and grinded into fine coarse, see in note
- 8 Dried red chilli deseeded and cut into 1cm pieces, details in note
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp Oil for stir fry
- Oil for shallow frying add 1 - 1½ cup of oil according to your pan size
Chicken Marinade
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine Chinese cooking rice wine, see details in note
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Black pepper powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 3-4 tbsp Corn starch or potato starch
Seasonings
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
Instructions
- First marinade the chicken with sugar, soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, black pepper, baking soda and corn starch. Mix it well to combine evenly and set aside for 15 minutes and prepare the vegetables.
- To shallow fry the chicken pieces, heat the wok/pan into high heat about 350°F, add oil about 1" high. Add the chicken pieces and fry for 5-6 minutes until crispy golden brown by turning sides. Then remove from oil and set it aside.
- Leave 2 tablespoon of oil in the wok, add chopped onions and stir fry few seconds with medium-high heat. Then follow with the dried chilli and continue stir fry for another 1 minute.
- Add chopped garlic,, ginger and stir for few seconds, then follow with the crushed Sichuan peppercorns and toss well with other ingredients.
- Place the fried chicken back in, pour the soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, sesame oil and sugar. Combine well with everything.
- Turn off the heat and add spring onions and sesame seeds. Toss well and transfer to serving plate.
Notes
Ingredients Variation & Add-on
- Protein - You can swap chicken thigh with chicken breast, tender beef steak, prawns or pork.
- Vegetables - You can add extra stir fry vegetables like snap peas, carrots, broccoli, etc.
- Nuts - Roasted peanuts, cashew nuts or walnuts can be added for nutty flavour.
- Sesame seeds & oil - You can omit it if you have certain allergy.
- Shao Xing wine - is a Chinese cooking rice wine, can be substitute with Japanese mirin or dry sherry. If you want to make it non-alcohol version you can omit Shao Xing wine or add a splash of rice vinegar.
- Oil - Use vegetable or any neutral flavour oil for both shallow fry and stir fry.
- Sugar - Sugar is added to balance the spicy, sweet and savoury taste. You can omit sugar or substitute with brown sugar, or sweetener.
Tips:
- To reduce the chilli heat, cut and deseed the chillies or add them into whole without cutting. So you can avoid biting chillies but the flavour will be in the dish.
- Toast the Sichuan peppercorns with low-medium heat in a pan before grinding, to brighten up the aroma.
Can you make it saucy?
- Mix all the seasoning ingredients and add extra 1 tbsp of Tobanjan ( Chinese Chilli Bean Sauce ), ¼ cup chicken stock or water, 1 tsp corn starch in a mixing bowl. Mix well and pour it after stir frying the veggies, then toss together with the fried chicken pieces.
- Instead of shallow frying, you can bake or air fry it. Spray generous amount of cooking oil over the chicken pieces with pre-heated oven or air-fryer about 350°F( 177° C) and fry/bake it until crispy golden brown. Flip halfway through.
Nutrition
Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 744mg | Potassium: 434mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1179IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 2mg
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