This szechuan chicken is bursting with flavour and is ridiculously easy to make. Featuring crispy chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce, this recipe is finger-licking good and makes for a perfect weekday dinner. Serve it as a starter or as a side with some fried rice or noodles, and you’ve got yourself a total winner!
If you love Indo-Chinese food, then schezwan chicken or sichaun chicken must be one of your go-to takeaway orders. But once you realise how easy it is to make restaurant-style schezwan chicken at home, there’s no turning back! Super quick and bursting with a flavour in each bite, you are going to want to make this one again and again.
- Delicious pieces of chicken that are crispy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside.
- If you have schezwan sauce ready, this dish can be put together in less than 30 minutes.
- If you are in a hurry, skip frying the chicken and directly toss them in with the veggies and sauces.
- Can be made vegetarian or vegan by replacing the chicken with paneer and tofu respectively.
- Can be served as a starter or with some fried rice and noodles for a wholesome meal.
Ingredients for Szechuan Chicken
If you frequently make Chinese food at home, then chances are that you might already have most of the following ingredients in your pantry.
- Chicken thighs: Works best with skinless and boneless chicken thighs as they remain moist despite the high cooking temperatures. You can even use breast pieces, but make sure to cut them into larger chunks to prevent them from drying out.
- Schezwan sauce: Mildly sweet but mostly spicy, schezwan sauce is the hero ingredient here. Can use store-bought or make a large batch at home and refrigerate the extras for up to a month. Here’s my quick and easy homemade schezwan sauce recipe that you can try.
- Coating: Rice flour and cornflour are both used to coat the chicken and give it a nice crunch once fried. Â
- Red chilli powder or Paprika: Gives that restaurant-style colour to the whole dish
- Soy sauce: This recipe uses both dark and light soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is used in the marination to add colour to the dish. And light soy sauce is used in the cooking process for that distinct salty, savoury Indo-Chinese taste.
- Ginger and garlic: To add lots of flavour and punch to the whole dish.
- Veggies: Onion, capsicum, red bell pepper and spring onions for flavour and texture
- Sugar: Balances the heat
- Corn Flour: Used as a thickener
How to make Szechuan Chicken
This chicken stir fry is a really easy recipe and comes together super quickly. Which makes it fantastic for a weeknight dinner!
1. Add all the ingredients for the marinade to a bowl along with pieces of boneless, skinless chicken
2. Mix them together and marinate for 20 minutes or up to an hour. You can do this while you prep all the other ingredients
3. Heat oil for frying in a skillet or kadhai and add a batch of the chicken pieces. Depending on the size of the pan, you might have to do this in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan
4. Deep fry for 6-7 minutes till the pieces are crispy and brown
5. Heat oil in a wok and add dried red chillies, ginger, garlic and saute for a minute. Add the onions and bell peppers and stir fry
6. Add the fried chicken pieces along with all the sauces and toss together
7. Finally, add the cornflour slurry and mix well. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes till everything becomes glossy and the sauce coats the chicken pieces
8. Szechuan chicken is ready to go. Top it with some chopped spring onions and serve hot
Richa’s top tips to make amazing Szechuan Chicken:
- Make sure to marinate the chicken for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour. Helps to flavour the chicken from inside-out.
- It is best to cook Indo-Chinese food in a wok on high heat for that distinct restaurant-style smokey flavour. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a frying pan or kadai.
- Prep and cut everything before you start cooking. Once things start going into the wok, this recipe needs to be cooked fast on high heat. So, you won’t have any time to cut and prep.
- To retain the crunch of the chicken and veggies, make sure to serve it immediately after cooking.
- Restaurants use red food colouring to achieve that bright red colour, but this recipes has no artificial food colour. Add a little Kashmiri red chilli powder to achieve similar results.
That’s how easy it is to put together this chicken schezwan and is a must try if you love Indo-Chinese food. Serve it as a starter for parties along with some chilled beer or with some fried rice or noodles to make a complete meal. Either way, this szechuan chicken is bound to be a total hit!
Watch the Recipe Video
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Spicy Szechuan Chicken
Ingredients
Marinade
- 400 grams chicken boneless skinless, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon Cornflour
- 2 tablespoon Rice Flour or All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste minced ginger and garlic in equal parts
- 1.5 teaspoon light Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Chilli Powder or paprika
- 2 tablespoon Oil for frying
Stir Fry
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped Ginger
- 1 tablespoon chopped Garlic
- 2-3 whole dried Red Chillies
- 1 medium Onion cut into petals
- ¼ cup Green Capsicum squares green bell pepper
- ¼ cup Red Capsicum squares red bell pepper
- 2-3 tablespoon Szechuan Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon light Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Cornflour or cornstarch
- ¾ cup Water
- ½ teaspoon Salt optional - taste and adjust
- ½ teaspoon Pepper optional
- 1 tablespoon Chopped Spring Onions for garnishing
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add chicken, soy sauce, ginger garlic paste, corn flour, rice flour and chilli powder and mix well. Cover and set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.
- Heat oil for frying in a kadhai or frying pan. Ensure there is enough oil to fully submerge and deep fry the chicken. Add the chicken and deep fry for about 5-4 minutes until crispy and brown. Make sure to flip the chicken a few times through the frying process. It is important to drop the chicken pieces one by one into the oil so they do not stick to each other.
- To start stir frying, heat oil in a wok or kadai. Once the oil is hot, add chopped ginger, garlic and dried red chillies and saute for a minute or two till fragrant.
- Add onions and bell peppers and saute on high heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the fried chicken and toss to combine. Add schezwan sauce, sugar and light soy sauce and saute for a minute.
- Mix together cornflour and water to make a slurry. Add this to a wok and keep tossing to combine well till the sauce simmers and chicken looks glossy.
- Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Make sure to marinate the chicken for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours. Helps to flavour the chicken from inside-out.
- It is best to cook Indo-Chinese food in a wok on high heat for that distinct restaurant-style smokey flavour. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a frying pan or kadai.
- Prep and cut everything before you start cooking. Once things start going into the wok, this recipe needs to be cooked fast on high heat. So, you won’t have any time to cut and prep.
- To retain the crunch of the chicken and veggies, make sure to serve it immediately after cooking.
- Restaurants use red food colouring to achieve that bright red colour, but you can easily skip this at home. Add a little Kashmiri red chilli powder to achieve similar results.
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