All you chilli fans out there are going to love this take on Sichuan chilli chicken. And if there’s one chilli chicken dish you want to be able to cook at home, this is it. Spicy peppercorns and fiery chillies turn up the heat to maximum volume – this isn’t one for the faint-hearted! For the marinade, I use Chinese Shaoxing wine, which is great to have on tap in the pantry. It gives the marinade a wonderful aromatic flavour. You could use dry sherry instead if you can’t get Shaoxing wine.
WATCH THIS RECIPE
Sichuan Chilli Chicken
PREP TIME
10 minutes
COOK TIME
30 minutes
SERVES
4
Ingredients
800g (1.76 lb) boneless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup plain flour
vegetable oil for shallow frying, plus 1 tbsp extra
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
5cm/2inches-piece ginger, peeled and sliced into fine strips
10 dried long red chillies, cut into thirds, seeds discarded
5 spring onions (scallions), cut into 3cm (1 inch) batons
Marinade:
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
Steps
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Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl with the chicken. Set aside until ready to cook.
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Place Sichuan peppercorns in a dry frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Toast the peppercorns, shaking the pan regularly, until they are aromatic and just starting to smoke. Transfer to a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder.
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Make the stir-fry sauce by mixing together the soy sauce, Chinese Shaoxing wine and sugar.
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Place the flour in a large tray or bowl. Add the marinated chicken pieces and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour before frying the chicken pieces.
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Fill a saucepan or wok to about 1/3 capacity with the vegetable oil. Heat over high heat. Once the oil is hot (325°F or 165°C or when a wooden spoon dipped into the oil forms small little bubbles) cook chicken in batches until golden and cooked through (about 3-4 minutes). Drain on paper towel.
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Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a clean wok or large frying pan over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Then add the ginger and dried chillies. Then add the cooked chicken, Sichuan pepper powder, spring onions and the stir-fry sauce mixture. Stir-fry until well combined. Remove from heat and serve.
Awesome recipes
I love the simplicity of recipes. They all seem lovely. Can’t wait to try many. Thank you.