

Spicy szechuan chicken recipe free#
I used a ton of peppers in the dish for the presentation, but feel free to reduce the amount because it doesn’t affect the flavor too much. The amount of chili peppers in the dish far exceeds the amount of chicken, so you’ll need to spend quite some time digging through the peppers in order to find a chunk of meat.But here we make things easy by using boneless thighs. It takes some effort to pick the meat from the bones, which makes eating it extra satisfying. Chinese chefs usually use tiny bone-in chicken pieces to cook this dish.Here are some fun facts about the authentic Mala Chicken we serve in China: The nutty, smoky fragrance of the vibrant peppers reaches your nostrils before your chopsticks do, and it makes your mouth water and makes you suddenly feel ten times hungrier. Hiding the chicken under a mountain of peppers is just the authentic Sichuan way to display the food. It is not like pure, tear-inducing Thai-style spiciness.

The dish offers a deep savory taste using heat as a medium. In this chicken dish, the balance comes from the spiciness and smokiness of the chili peppers, the numbing tingling Sichuan peppercorns, the nuttiness of the sesame seeds, savory aromatics, salt, and a small amount of sugar. Sichuan cuisine pursues truly bold flavors that are well-balanced. La Zi Ji is spicy, but not as spicy as it looks. After staring at the plate for a few moments, they would cautiously dig up a piece of hot chicken with suspicion written on their brow, fearful that it might burn a hole in their stomach.Īnd you know what? My guests always ended up loving this dish. Although my initial goal was to introduce genuine Sichuan food to the uninitiated, I confess that secretly I just loved my colleagues’ stunned faces on seeing the giant plate of chili peppers placed before them. Mala Chicken was one of the dishes that always appeared on our lunch table.

When introducing someone who’s new to Chinese food to the real deal La Zi Ji (辣子鸡), or Sichuan Mala Chicken, I’d describe the dish as “fried chicken covered in hot sauce” so it won’t completely scare them away.ĭuring my years working in Beijing, I took every single foreign colleague to one of my favorite Sichuan restaurants, Yu Xiang Ren Jia (渝乡人家). It is spicy yet you cannot stop eating it because it’s SO GOOD! It’s then stir fried with tons of dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger and garlic to create a spicy numbing sensation. The chicken is coated with spices and flash fried until golden brown and crispy. La Zi Ji is a signature Sichuan dish that is extremely popular in China. Take the challenge if you can handle the heat! What is La Zi Ji Expand your repertoire with lapin à la moutarde and chicken wonton soup as delicious additions to your arsenal of go-to meals.Sichuan La Zi Ji features crispy chicken smothered in chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and tons of aromatics to create an electrifyingly hot numbing sensation that’s so addictive. Learn more about our free-range chicken producers and shop our range of poultry. The juices left from resting will make a delicious sauce, particularly when mixed with a squeeze of lime. This is a wonderful chicken dish made even better when it is carved then served over steamed rice or noodles and some stir-fried Gai Lan. Alternatively, roast the chicken in a preheated oven at 180C for 22-25 minutes. Leave to marinate for up to one hour.Ĭook your Szechuan chicken on a grill over medium heat, turning often, for 25-30 minutes. Use a teaspoon of the spice rub and gently massage the mixture into the chicken. Take one tablespoon of oil and rub it all over the chicken. The spice rub will keep in an airtight jar for up to three weeks. Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to coarsely grind your spices, add the ginger and salt and stir. Toast your whole spices in the pan until fragrant. Heat a frying pan on a low heat then add all spice rub ingredients bar the ground ginger and sea salt.
