Pictorial: Sichuan Chili Pepper Chicken

[hzrt8w]

Pictorial Recipe

Sichuan Chili Pepper Chicken (辣子雞丁)

I don't cook Sichuan style dishes too often. Recently I have been to a Sichuan restaurant and had the Chili Pepper Chicken dish:

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11413761..._2014_29757.jpg

The wonderful flavor of chili combined with the numbing taste of Sichuan peppercorns is addictive! I tried to reproduce this dish following some recipes found in different websites. It took me 3 trials to come up with the best result that I like, which I am presenting here. The real Sichuan style would have used 150 - 200 dried red chilis. I have used only about 50. Feel free to add more dried red chili if you like.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 4

Preparations:

Main ingredients (upper right, clockwise):

- Chicken meat (with skin and bones), about 2 lb

- Dried red chili peppers, use at least 50 (up to 200 or so)

- Sichuan peppercorns, about 3-4 tsp (or you may use more)

- 2-3 shallots

- Ginger, about 1 to 2 inch in length

- Garlic, use 5-6 cloves

- 4 stalks of green onions

- A few prigs of cilantro for garnishing

Chop the chicken meat into cubes (with skin and bones), about 1 x 2 inches.

Dark meat has more flavors. I used some chicken thighs and chicken wings.

To marinate: very simply... add 2-3 tsp of light soy sauce, 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, 1 tsp of salt (or to taste).

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes before cooking.

[Not shown in the pictures: Peel and cut the shallots into small wedges. Peel and mince 5-6 cloves of garlic. Trim end and cut 4 stalks of green onions into 1 to 2 inch in length. Peel and cut 1-2 inch of ginger into small slices.]

To make the dried red chili peppers not as easy to burn, soak them in water for 20 minutes or so. Drain the water well before use.

Cooking Instructions:

Use a wok. Set stove to high. Heat up about 3 to 4 cups of frying oil. The oil must be very hot before deep-frying the chicken meat. This may take up to 10 minutes or more to heat up on a regular stove. Observe the oil. Wait until it start swirling before use.

Add the marinated chicken. Note that the chicken pieces will start sizzling right away (it they don't, the oil is not hot enough).

Deep-fry for a few minutes until the chicken pieces turn golden brown and crispy on the outside. You may need to divide the deep-frying into a couple of batches. Use a colander to drain off the excess oil.

Drain all frying oil. Clean the wok. Set stove on high again. Heat the wok until fuming hot. Add 2-3 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming.

First add all dried red chili peppers and Sichuan pepper corn. Stir. Fry for 15-20 seconds.

Add minced garlic, chopped shallots, chopped green onions (white portion only) and sliced ginger. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1-2 tsp of chili bean sauce, 1 tsp of brown bean sauce. Stir-well. (Be careful of the choking smell from the Sichuan peppercorns. Dash in 2 tsp ShaoHsing cooking wine.

Stir the ingredients well. Cook for 1 minute or so.

Return the chicken pieces and add the chopped green onions (green portion). Dash in 1-2 tsp of dark soy sauce.

Stir and fry for a couple of minutes until all ingredients are well-mixed. Finished. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve immediately.

Picture of the finished dish. Add some cilantro for garnishing if desired. Serve with more hot chili oil or chili sauce as condiments if desired.

Keys to cooking this dish

1. (Per one website's comment): You may use more or less dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn as you like. The best is have all the hot chilis covering the chicken, and not just a few chilis mixed with the chicken pieces.

2. You should use salt to marinate the chicken meat before deep-frying. If you only add salt while stir-frying the chicken later, the outside of the chicken meat is already dry from the deep-frying so the salty taste will not infiltrate into the meat.

3. The oil you use to deep-fry the chcken meat must be very hot, so that the meat is crispy on the outside while still tender on the inside. If the oil is not hot enough, you end up having to deep-fry the chicken for too long and the meat becomes hard.

[Grub]

Beautiful! That's going straight onto my menu. I'll report back

[Pan]

Looks great as usual, Ah Leung!

One question that may seem overly basic: How do you clean your wok between frying the chicken pieces and frying the other items? Hot water, then cold water?

[hzrt8w]

One question that may seem overly basic: How do you clean your wok between frying the chicken pieces and frying the other items? Hot water, then cold water?

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Thanks Michael. Cleaning: just drain the hot oil, wash under running hot water and scrub with the bamboo brush. Then I wipe off the excess water and any residue sud with paper towels. Then place the wok on top of the burner again to heat it up and burn off the water moisture.

[Miraklegirl]

Your dishes always look incredible! I will definately try this one out. I was just wondering if you had any ideas for substitutions for the chili bean sauce and the brown bean sauce as I have had trouble finding kosher versions...Thanks!

[muichoi]

Aren't Kosher versions of such things a step too far? there's nothing to worry the strictest orthodox jew in any version of either of these products.

Edited June 15, 2006 by muichoi (log)

[kiliki]

Any tips on how to eat this? I ordered something like this recently and was completely perplexed as to how to eat it without getting stabbed by sharp bone edges (where they had been cut). Nibbling at it while holding it with chopsticks took forever, but putting a whole piece in my mouth and trying to work the meat off the bone was downright painful.

[Leo Cheng]

Any tips on how to eat this? I ordered something like this recently and was completely perplexed as to how to eat it without getting stabbed by sharp bone edges (where they had been cut). Nibbling at it while holding it with chopsticks took forever, but putting a whole piece in my mouth and trying to work the meat off the bone was downright painful.

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I would use my hands and nibble off the bone. I think it's perfectly okay to use one's hands in a Chinese restaurant.

For smaller pieces, I'd put the whole thing in my mouth, and chew slowly and carefully, feeling the meat for bones with your tongue. This is a skill that many Chinese have mastered (like peeling shrimp in your mouth).

[hzrt8w]

Your dishes always look incredible! I will definately try this one out. I was just wondering if you had any ideas for substitutions for the chili bean sauce and the brown bean sauce as I have had trouble finding kosher versions...Thanks!

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Thank you, Miraklegirl. If you cannot find suitable chili bean sauce or brown bean sauce, you can skip them. I made my second trial without them (I forgot them, actually ). The dish tasted not as hot and a little plain, I felt. A touch of the bean paste added a new dimension. The dried chilis - and don't let the quantity fool you - actually don't make this dish hot even if you use 100 - 200. I relied on the chili bean paste to turn up the heat. I think you can compensate by adding some chili sauce and a bit more soy sauce. (I hope these are kosher enough for you.)

[hzrt8w]

Any tips on how to eat this?

[...]

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I have seen Caucasians use forks and knives. Chinese patrons typically debone the pieces while chewing, and spit out the bones (some even spit the skin). At times that it's really difficult? Just use fingers. (Do you use fingers when you eat Kentucky Fried Chicken?)

[kiliki]

At times that it's really difficult? Just use fingers. (Do you use fingers when you eat Kentucky Fried Chicken?)

Well, I can't tell you when the last time I had KFC was, but I get your point. However, the difficulty mostly came when no matter which way I ate it (actually, everyone at the table had this problem), I spent most of my time trying to separate little shards of bone from the meat. Whether it was on the plate or in our mouths, bits of bone found their way into every bite, because of the way it was cut. We actually gave up on the dish before we'd finished it because we were all so tired of dealing with these bone bits.

chew slowly and carefully, feeling the meat for bones with your tongue. This is a skill that many Chinese have mastered

That makes sense-I guess I need practice.

[hzrt8w]

[...]

We actually gave up on the dish before we'd finished it because we were all so tired of dealing with these bone bits.

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If you make this dish at home, by all means use only boneless chicken breasts. I use chicken breasts to cook dishes that call for bone-in chicken pieces all the time.

[sheetz]

I bet this dish would be great just using wing segments. Sort of like a Sichuan version of Buffalo wings.

[Leo Cheng]

At times that it's really difficult? Just use fingers. (Do you use fingers when you eat Kentucky Fried Chicken?)

However, the difficulty mostly came when no matter which way I ate it (actually, everyone at the table had this problem), I spent most of my time trying to separate little shards of bone from the meat. Whether it was on the plate or in our mouths, bits of bone found their way into every bite, because of the way it was cut. We actually gave up on the dish before we'd finished it because we were all so tired of dealing with these bone bits.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I think it's one of those things that, if you grew up doing it, it's no problem. But if you've never done it before, then it can get tiresome. It's like Chinese fish dishes. They're almost always served whole, and using your mouth to feel out the bones is what Chinese people do.

I find using one's mouth to feel out Chicken bone splinters to be part of the dining experience. This way, I get to taste the bone marrow, which is quite tasty IMHO.

[Miraklegirl]

Aren't Kosher versions of such things a step too far? there's nothing to worry the strictest orthodox jew in any version of either of these products.

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Religious practice varies from person to person. Certainly, I don't believe that keeping a strictly kosher home is a 'step too far.' All processed products, such as sauces, require supervision to be kosher. In my part of the world, finding kosher (under reliable supervision) bean sauce is next to impossible and therefore I look for ways to substitute that ingredient.

Edited June 16, 2006 by Miraklegirl (log)