Quick & Easy Szechuan Chicken
Szechuan Chicken. Fried chicken tossed in a sweet, savory sauce with spicy flavors and szechuan peppercorns for a mouth-tingling sensation. A Chinese main dish with bold flavors ready in 30 minutes! This serves best with rice.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 lb chicken breast (or skinless boneless chicken thighs)
- 2/3 cup red bell pepper (diced )
- 2/3 cup green bell pepper (diced )
- 1/2 cup onion (diced)
- 20 dried red chilies (or 2 fresh chopped red chillies )
- 5 slices ginger (peeled)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (or potato starch)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or neutral oil)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark brown sugar both work)
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1.5 tsp sichuan peppercorn powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium kind, or cold water)
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch)
- 1.5 tbsp water (cold)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (do not skip!)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
Instructions
- 1
Dice chicken into 1-inch pieces. Transfer chicken pieces into a large bowl.
- 2
Add Marinade ingredients as listed above to the chicken and marinate for at least 20 minutes (or overnight or a few hours in advance) in the fridge.
- 3
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above until well combined. Set aside.
- 4
Add 1/4 cup cornstarch to the marinated chicken and toss with tongs until diced chicken is evenly coated. Set aside.
- 5
Heat 1/4 cup or 60 ml vegetable oil in a large pan or wok on medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, fry chicken until golden, about 4-5 minutes. Flip over and fry on the other side for 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove and transfer cooked chicken to a plate. Reserve 1 tbsp of oil in the pan and discard the rest of the oil.
- 6
On medium heat, add dried red chilies and stir fry for 20 seconds. Stir fry onions, ginger, and bell peppers for 30 seconds.
- 7
Pour in sauce and simmer to thicken.
- 8
Once thickened, toss back in the fried chicken until evenly coated. Remove off heat and serve immediately with hot rice.