Szechwan Chilli Chicken, A spicy delight directly from the Sichuan province. This spicy Szechuan chicken stir fry, which will make your tongue curl, is cooked with Szechuan (Sichuan) peppers and is not for the faint of heart. also a tonne of dried red chillies!
You’re going to adore this one if you enjoy the heat!
Contents:
- What is Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
- What does Szechwan Chicken taste like?
- What cut of Chicken is best for Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
- Recipe
- What to serve with Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
What is Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
Asian food lovers love Szechuan Chicken, a famous Chinese takeout dish. It is a meal that has a Chongqing (in Southwest China) origin and is incredibly well-known. China has a province name Sichuan. Depending on the location of the world, it may also be spelt Szechwan or Szechuan.
Frequently, the chicken is deep-fried, and the meal typically contains significantly more dried chillies than chicken. The combination of beef and vegetables in the stir-fry is delicious. Typically, chefs add a sweet sauce to the mixture. It is a meal that frequently appears at Asian family dinner tables, particularly in Szechuan. Since the area is known for its high humidity and wet weather, hot foods like these are popular.
The heat level starts to rise as soon as they are sliced and those chilli seeds are freed!
Szechuan Chicken sometimes referred to as Sichuan chicken, Mala Chicken, or Laziji, is a deliciously flavoured stir-fried chicken meal that is distinguished by the use of Szechuan peppercorns and a generous amount of dried red chillies. Usually, it is served without any sauce.
The chicken is soft, juicy, and crisp, and the sauce is sweet and sour with lots of red pepper flakes and green onions. The dish is incredibly easy to make. The robust flavours of Sichuan food, which are derived from the liberal use of garlic, red chillies, and Sichuan peppercorn, are well-known and adored worldwide. Sichuan cuisine’s traditional fare is sour, sweet, sour, hot, and spicy.
What does Szechwan Chicken taste like?
The Chinese takeaway meal of Szechuan chicken is sweet and sour. It is typically prepared with a mixture of sweet soy sauce, hot peppercorns, and some minced ginger and garlic, giving it a slightly numbing taste.
What cut of Chicken is best for Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
You can use chicken thigh, wing, or breast cuts while preparing your homemade original Szechuan chicken recipe. They cook at various rates of time. It takes about 20 minutes to fry the thigh and the wing. The breasts cook in just ten minutes because they cook so quickly.
- Upper chicken legs are where the chicken thighs are found. Comparatively speaking to drumsticks, it contains more meat. In most cases, your neighbourhood food stores will have the part peeled and boned for you. Thicker and chewier is how thighs are made.
- Drumette, flat, and tip make up the wings’ three components. The wing portion that is joined to the entire bird are called the drummette. It’s good for your health to eat chicken wings. For metabolic diseases like gout, arthritis, and diabetes, they are beneficial food if cooked properly. When stir-fried, they also become crispier.
- Comparatively speaking to other cuts, chicken breast is abundant in protein. Those who are dieting might consider lean breasts as a great option. The texture is substantially softer as compared to wings and thighs.
Recipe
Ingredients: Boneless chicken, salt, pepper, rice wine, sugar, cornflour, garlic, chilli, oil, chicken stock, onions, and Szechwan sauce.
For Szechwan Sauce: Sichuan peppercorns, Shaoxing wine, chilli bean paste, Chinese five-spice, toasted sesame oil, light soy sauce, dried red chillies, and aromatics like garlic, ginger, and scallions are all used to make the sauce.
Step 1: Marinate the chicken
In a glass bowl, place the boneless chicken thighs. Add sugar, rice wine, light and dark soy sauces, black pepper powder, and soy sauce. Combine thoroughly before adding cornflour and completing the mixture. The recommended marinating time is 30 minutes.
Step 2: Add oil to a wok and cook it up. Carefully tip in the marinated chicken after the oil is blazing hot but before it starts to smoke. Be very careful since the marinade will splash and spit as soon as it contacts the oil. For about two minutes, quickly stir-fry the chicken, then remove with a slotted spoon while keeping the oil in the wok. Set aside chicken.
Step 3: To flavour the oil, add the garlic and red chillies to the wok one at a time and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Stir in the Szechwan sauce. Add the conserved chicken after stirring the white part of the spring onion for a minute. After thoroughly combining, add hot chicken stock.
Step 4: Add the cornflour slurry, stir, and heat for about a minute, or until the sauce thickens and shimmers on the chicken. Use the green portion of the spring onion to garnish the chicken with chilli.
Step 5: Szechwan Chilli chicken should be taken off the heat and placed in a bowl.
Step 6: Serve it hot.
TIPS
- Try to stir-fry the meat in a wok for the best results. A wok has a large surface and retains heat effectively. Your food will therefore taste better. Preheating your wok before adding the oil can help keep food from sticking to your work.
- Since Szechuan chicken is a spicy stir-fry, you must prepare all of your ingredients before turning on the heat and oil your wok or frying pan. Move quickly when your frying pan is hot to prevent scorching your meal.
- Make sure to maximise the surface area of your meat and vegetables. You ensure that the food can interact with the heat by doing this. The dish has more flavour as a result.
- The batter will change depending on how crispy you like your Szechuan chicken. For a thicker and crispier batter, use extra cornflour.
What to serve with Szechwan Chilli Chicken?
The popular dish Szechuan chicken rice can also be enjoyed by adding noodles & fried rice. Some people like to consume it alone. It is a fairly hip type of street food. But for a main course, you can also include Szechuan chicken with broccoli and rice.
