Mongolian Chicken

A white bowl containing, crispy coated chicken with dried chillies and spring onions.

5 from 9 votes

Popular Chinese Mongolian chicken recipe made with crispy coated chicken glazed with homemade sweet and savoury sauce. One of the best Chinese restaurants and takeout favourite dish that you can make at home in 30 minutes. Enjoy this dish with plain rice or noodles.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American-Chinese

Servings: - 3

Calories: 380kcal

Author: Khin

Equipment

1 Large wok or pan

Ingredients

Chicken and marinade

300 grams Boneless chicken Skinless boneless chicken breast/thigh
2 tsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
2 tsp Shao xing wine Cooking rice wine or rice vinegar
2 tsp Cooking oil Vegetable oil, sunflower, peanut, or sesame oil
4 tbsp Cornstarch Or potato starch

Mongolian sauce

2 tbsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
2 tbsp Brown sugar Or regular white sugar or honey
¼ cup Chicken stock Or water or chicken broth
½ tsp Corn starch or potato starch

Other ingredients

½ Onion Cut thin slices
6-8 Dried chilles Deseeded whole dried chillies
2 cloves Garlic Minced or cut thin slices
2 tsp Ginger Minced or cut thin strips
2-3 Spring onions Cut 2" pieces
1 Chilli pepper Or bell pepper, cut thin slices ( optional )
Oil for frying Sunflower, vegetable, peanut oil, etc.

Instructions

First, prepare the chicken marinade and coating. In a bowl, add chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, cornstarch, and vegetable oil. Mix everything well and set it aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Set it aside.
To shallow fry the chicken, fill the frying pan with cooking oil for 2". Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil ( 350°F/180°C ) for 5-6 minutes or until crispy golden brown. Flip the chicken pieces occasionally. ( You can shallow fry, deep fry, or air-fry the chicken pieces. ) Remove from oil and set them aside.
Heat the wok over medium heat, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add dried chillies and onions and sauté for a few seconds. Follow with garlic and ginger. Cook for a few seconds until fragrant.
Next, pour the prepared Mongolian sauce in. Stir it well and wait until the sauce starts to get thickened and glossy. Then place the fried chicken, fresh chilli slices, and spring onions.
Toss everything well and make sure to coat each chicken piece with the sauce. Turn off the heat and serve the dish immediately with cooked rice or noodles.

Video

Notes

Cooking wine: instead of Chinese Shao Xing cooking rice wine you can add Japanese mirin or dry sherry wine. For a non-alcohol option, use rice vinegar or non-alcohol mirin. Or you can just omit it.
Chicken stock/broth: Instead of chicken stock/broth you can add water with a dash of chicken stock cubes, MSG, or chicken powder. For an umami taste, hoisin sauce or oyster sauce can be also added if you are not adding any chicken stock or broth.
The amount of dried chillies and fresh chillies can be adjusted to a spicier or milder flavour to your preference.
It's important to reduce the sauce a bit and cook until slightly thickened before adding the fried chicken and veggies.
Like other Chinese crispy chicken dishes, Mongolian chicken tastes best when freshly cooked. Even though you can save the leftovers for later use in the fridge, it won't stay crispy and maintain the glossy sauce when you reheat it. But it will be still delicious, just lacking a bit of crispiness and glossy texture.
This recipe is for 2-3 servings and you can adjust the serving size by sliding the portion size bar on the recipe card.

Nutrition