Restaurant style Dragon Chicken is a spicy, addictive Indo Chinese appetizer that takes under 30 minutes to put together! Crunchy cashews, fried strips of chicken, lots of onion and capsicum tossed in a spicy red chilli sauce make this a crowd favourite!
Imagine a fire breathing dragon. Now imagine the same when you eat this dish. Haha okay I'm exaggerating - its not that spicy! But seriously, favourite order everytime we eat Chinese outside! And here's why I love about Dragon Chicken so much:
- Crispy strips of fried chicken that are marinated in a spicy mix and flavoured from within. No bland tasting chicken here
- Lots of cashew nuts, onions and capsicum for crunch and texture
- Sweet and spicy sauce (more spicy than sweet) that coats every piece of chicken and really gets into crevices
- Takes 30 minutes from start to end and you've got yourself a super tasty, addictive appetizer that everyone will LOVE
Ingredients for Dragon Chicken
Here are the main ingredients you'll need:
Chicken Thighs: Highly recommend using boneless, skinless thighs because they can withstand the high cooking temps without drying out. If you are not a fan, use breasts instead but cut them slightly thicker
Egg White: Creates a crispier, lighter coating
Binding Agents: Rice flour and all purpose flour for the batter which will create the crispy coating. Replace all purpose flour with corn flour for gluten free batter
Seasoning: Soy sauce, red chilli powder or cayenne, pepper, salt. Don't skip the chilli powder because it gives it that unique red colour and that spicy kick
Aromatics: Finely chopped ginger and garlic - lots of it. They add layers and layers of flavour
Veggies: Onions and capsicum that are cubed. Green capsicum adds spiciness without the heat
Cashew nuts: You can skip them but we love the texture they add!
Sauces: Red Chilli sauce (made from scratch - recipe in notes), dark soy sauce (I recommend Chings for that typical Indo chinese flavour), Ketchup (because sweet and spicy) and vinegar
Cornflour: For thickening. Sub with corn starch, tapioca starch or potato starch
Step by Step Recipe
- Marinate: Marinate the chicken in a mixture of soy sauce, salt, pepper, red chilli powder (or cayenne), rice flour, all purpose flour and egg white. Set this aside while you prep everything else
- Fry: Fry the chicken in about 1 inch oil till crispy and brown on both sides. About 2-3 minutes total
- Saute aromatics in hot oil in a wok. There's ginger, garlic and red chilli paste. Saute for 30-45 seconds till the chilli paste is fried and doesn't smell raw anymore
- Saute veggies - onion and capsicum for a minute on high heat till they start turning translucent but still remain crispy
- Saute cashews for 10-15 seconds just to roast them off. I'm using whole cashew nuts. Peanuts would also be amazing here
- Add sauces - soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, salt and pepper
- Stir fry for 10-15 seconds to get everything mixed well
- Thicken with a cornflour slurry - basically cornflour mixed with water. Stir fry for another 15 seconds till you see a thick sauce forming. The sauce should be like glaze because this is a dragon chicken dry and we want the sauce to just coat the chicken
- Add fried Chicken to the wok right before serving. The longer the chicken sits in the sauces, the softer it'll get
- Toss and serve immediately. Top with some spring onions. This doesn't need anything else!
This recipe is generally served as an appetizer, but if you are into it, you can serve this as a dry-ish main dish with some egg fried rice. It's fantastic both ways! And so easily customizable - just add a little water while tossing the chicken to make it more saucy so you'll have some gravy if you want this for main course.
Richa's Top Tips
- Use chicken thighs vs breast for chicken that stays juicy till the end. Breasts tend to dry out faster
- Make red chilli paste at home if possible. Its easy - soak dried red chillies in hot water for 10-15 minutes and then grind them to a thick paste. Homemade is punchier! But in a pinch, use chilli flakes. If you use chilli flakes, the colour of the sauce won't be as red
- Marinate the chicken for at least 10-15 minutes or up to 2 hours if you have the time. This builds flavour from the inside out
- Get everything in place or your mise en plac before you start cooking. This is especially important with chinese cooking because the stir frying is always so fast - in this case, the actual stir frying takes only 5 minutes!
- You can deep fry or shallow fry the chicken. It only needs 2-3 minutes total because the chicken is cut into ½ inch strips
- Toss the chicken right before serving so that it still remains crisp. The longer it sits in the sauce the softer it becomes and we are looking for nice, crispy chicken!
There you have it! All my tips, tricks and notes to make the best dragon chicken! This is a really simple stir fry thats so fast and easy you won't believe it came out of your kitchen.
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Restaurant Style Dragon Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Oil for frying
Marinade
- 450 Grams Chicken Thigh boneless, cut into ½ inch thickness strips
- 1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
- ½ - ¾ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder or cayenne
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Rice Flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons All Purpose Flour maida
- 1 Egg White
Stir Fry
- 1 ½ Tablespoons finely chopped Garlic
- 1 ½ Tablespoons finely chopped Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Red Chilli Paste can reduce to 2 teaspoon if you want less spicy
- 1 medium Onion cut into chunks
- 1 medium Green Capsicum cut into chunks
- ¼ Cup Cashew Nuts
- 1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Ketchup
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper freshly ground
- 1 Teaspoon Corn Flour
- ¼ Cup Water
Instructions
Marinade
- Add all the marinade ingredients into a mixing bowl. Use a pair of tongs or spoons to mix well. Ensure there are no lumps of flour. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a frying pan, kadai or wok. Heat enough oil for shallow frying the chicken pieces. Once hot, carefully add the marinated chicken pieces into the oil one at a time. Allow to fry on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
Stir Fry
- Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Once hot, add garlic, ginger and red chilli paste. Fry on high heat for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add onion and bell pepper and saute on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add cashew nuts and fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, salt and black pepper. Combine corn flour and ¼ cup water in a small bowl and add it to the wok. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add fried chicken pieces and toss to combine. Serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Use chicken thighs vs breast for chicken that stays juicy till the end. Breasts tend to dry out faster
- Make red chilli paste at home if possible. Its easy - soak dried red chillies in hot water for 10-15 minutes and then grind them to a thick paste. Homemade is punchier! But in a pinch, use chilli flakes. If you use chilli flakes, the colour of the sauce won't be as red
- Marinate the chicken for at least 10-15 minutes or up to 2 hours if you have the time. This builds flavour from the inside out
- Get everything in place or your mise en plac before you start cooking. This is especially important with chinese cooking because the stir frying is always so fast - in this case, the actual stir frying takes only 5 minutes!
- You can deep fry or shallow fry the chicken. It only needs 2-3 minutes total because the chicken is cut into ½ inch strips
- Toss the chicken right before serving so that it still remains crisp. The longer it sits in the sauce the softer it becomes and we are looking for nice, crispy chicken!
Emily says
Loved this! Super easy and a great snack night food!
Rhea says
The dragon chicken came out amazingly awesome. It's simple and fun to make. Everyone must try it out.
Richa says
Thanks Rhea!