Szechuan Chicken Recipe My Food Story

on Feb 25, 2022 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. Red chilli powder or Paprika: Gives that restaurant-style colour to the whole dishSoy 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 textureSugar: Balances the heatCorn 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!

Add all the ingredients for the marinade to a bowl along with pieces of boneless, skinless chicken
Mix them together and marinate for 20 minutes or up to an hour. You can do this while you prep all the other ingredients
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
Deep fry for 6-7 minutes till the pieces are crispy and brown
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
Add the fried chicken pieces along with all the sauces and toss together
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
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!