For the past two weeks I have been cooking within strict boundaries. Because I am leaving for a month-long trip to the US, and giving up my current apartment, I have not only been restraining myself from buying any new bottles of sauces, spices, and cooking oils, but also trying desperately to use up what I have left. Which is easier said than done. How many meals of basil-cumin pasta must I eat while fighting the urge to buy more dried oregano? Or chili garlic noodles, while convincing myself any new sauces will just end up in the garbage?
One item I desperately wanted to use up with an almost-full bottle of vegetable oil that I simply did not feel like packing. And what’s an easier way to use up oil than frying? Fortunately, there was one dish I could make without buying anything except chicken and leeks. And whenever I teach it in my Sichuan cooking classes, all traces of crispy chicken are gone within 5 minutes.
Lazi jiding (辣子鸡丁) is like a more sophisticated version of kung pao chicken. It’s smokier, spicier (a lot spicier if you chop up the chilis), and only a bit more complex in its preparation. (The way I make it is more like shallow-frying. I use about 1 1/2 cups of oil, and dredge the chicken in a cornstarch-salt-pepper mixture beforehand.) Few fried chicken entrees are enveloped by such a succulent tongue-tingling sauce.
_______________________________
Spicy Wok-Fried Chicken with Chilis
Serves 4
Marinade:
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine, or substitute dry sherry
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Sauce:
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chicken stock or water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/4 pounds chicken breast, diced
2 cups cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup peanut oil
8 to 10 driled red chilis
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorn
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
1 small piece ginger, minced
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients: soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Marinate the chicken in the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes.
Mix together the ingredients for the sauce: chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock or water, and cornstarch. Set aside.
In a large bowl or plate, mix together the cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Dredge chicken in cornstarch mixture and shake off excess cornstarch. Heat about 1 cup of oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to smoke, work in batches and fry chicken until golden brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with remaining batches.
Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of oil, and keep wok heated over medium-high heat. Add the chilis and Sichuan peppercorn and stir-fry until just fragrant and the chilis start to blister, about 30 to 60 seconds. Add the leeks, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in sauce mixture and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add the fried chicken, toss to combine, and remove from heat. Serve immediately.
____________________________________
Related crispy or spicy chicken recipes:
Chicharrones de Pollo with Paprika Onions
Stir-fried Chicken in Chili Black Bean Sauce
____________________________________
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Comment from the pinyin police, it’s lazi jiding … laji makes it sound like trash chicken. :)
Oh…Are you leaving China to US soon? Will you be coming back anytime? I’ll definitely miss you. ><
I understand how you feel, I was eating and cooking like mad when I was about to leave the Philippines. LOL.
But you certainly made up something really nice with the things you have in hand. The dish looks delicious.
Silly question : The sechuan peppercorn, how is it different from ordinary peppercorn? I am not sure if I can get it here.
Definitely one to add to the list. It sounds a little like General Tso’s Chicken, but perhaps healthier as it’s shallow fried and using skinless breast!
Wow, the photo look so delicious and thinking to go back to Malaysia and try the same things.
mmm…looks delicious. I still need to start using those peppercorns.
That looks tasty!
Just made it tonight. My wife described it as “tasting like real Chinese food”, We thought it was delicious, if a little overly salty. Any ideas on how I could cut the salt will keeping the flavor?
I guess I could skip the salt in the corn starch, but not sure if that’d be enough.
A quick note. The recipe doesn’t say how much corn starch to use to coat the chicken. I just poured a bunch onto the plate and seasoned it as directed, but maybe if I’d used the amount you used it would have been better.
About how much corn starch did you use?
OneEyedMan – I used about 2 cups cornstarch for the chicken. I updated the recipe, though in general just use enough cornstarch to line the bottom of your large bowl or plate by at least 1/2 inch. To lessen the amount of sodium, you can take use less salt in the cornstarch mix or less soy sauce in the sauce.
Hi Diana!
I love your blog, so I’ve tagged you in a blog game. Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
Thanks!
Hi, can you tell me what is chili garlic sauce? Does that come in a bottle?
Thanks.
You can buy it in a bottle or make it at home. It’s just a combination of minced chilis, garlic, cooking wine, a bit of vinegar, salt, and sugar. (Store versions will also most likely include some preservatives.)
Do you think this would turn out if you baked the chicken instead of frying it in all of that oil? I am kind of a health freak but it sounds so good.
hello,
i just found this blog a few weeks ago, and i love the layout and recipes. i’ve tried this one twice and i’ve been pretty happy with both results, but i’m wondering if there is anything i can do to make the chicken crunchier. i use the same constarch-salt-pepper combo you describe and i’m getting a solid golden brown layer before removal, but i’m still not attaining the crunchiness that i’m sure drives this meal home…any suggestions or common errors you’ve observed while teaching recipes like this?
many thanks!
The chicken isn’t supposed to be super crunchy like sweet and sour chicken or General Tso’s chicken. Fried Sichuan (and other mainland Chinese) dishes don’t have the tradition of coating meats with a thick batter before frying. That said, this recipe is always open to experimentation. You can try mixing flour with egg to get a batter like for Western fried chicken, and see how it turns out. Good luck!
For the last month or so I’ve been frequenting a new Sichuan Restaurant here in Burnaby. It’s called Garlic & Chili. Top-notch quality. Your pictures are stunning, btw. Thanks for feeding my addiction!
The photos you used for these blogs are just perfect. They visually invite the viewer to the kitchen and want to participate in the recipes.
You can’t bake Chinese food like this! It defeats the whole concept. You need the oil to really carry the chilli and peppercorn flavours. I’ve seen this served in Sichuan restaurants in a pool of oil.
Love this dish. Thanks for sharing the recipe, now I can make it at home.
Have been loving your blog! Today we finally found the sichuan peppercorns, which at T&T (our local chinese grocery) was labeled KG Prickly Ash. Made this dish up and it was good but very very salty. I skipped the salt in the batter but guess it was from the chicken broth and soy sauce. next time I will use water rather than chicken broth, which should help. Can you recommend a brand or type of soy sauce that would be less salty? Also tried making the banana and chocolate wontons tonight, they are awesome!!!
Kristina – Are you using soy sauce meant for dipping (sometimes has a picture of dumplings on the bottle)? Dipping soy sauces are saltier than regular soy sauce. If you’re using regular soy sauce and still find it salty, I would try any brand in the market labeled as "low-sodium" soy sauce, such as Kikkoman, Kimlan, and Tamari.
I’m going to give this a try. I just bought some Sichuan peppercorns and the flavor is SHOCKING! It’s like sucking on a lemon and a battery simultaneously. Thanks for the recipe!
I will try this tonight. Why do you have listed 3 garlic cloves minced and then 1 garlic clove minced separately? Do you mean 4 garlic cloves minced or am I missing something?
Wade – Thanks for pointing that out! The extra 1 garlic clove was a typo, now fixed.
Hate to be a bother, but I was wondering what dark rice wine vinegar is? Is that black vinegar? I haven’t seen dark vinegar in our local Chinese/Vietnamese markets but I have seen the black. If it’s something else, can I simply substitute with regular rice wine vinegar (non-seasoned)?
Vee – Yes, dark rice vinegar is just another name for black vinegar. I’m going to change it in the recipe to be more clear, since most people seem to know it as black vinegar. Thanks for pointing it out.
I made this tonight! It was delicious, despite me burning the dried tien tsin chilis I used (that smoke was murder!). Definitely looking forward to making this again :)
:o when I saw the picture on your post I said, “THAT’S IT!!!” There was this little Chinese restaurant that I only got the pleasure of going to a couple times before the bad economy got to it. It had something called “Wok-fried Chicken”. It was the most amazing and tasty thing I had EVER had!!!! I’ve been looking around for a recipe, but couldn’t find anything that was close. The picture looks EXACTLY like it!!!!! I can’t wait to make this!!!
I have been looking for la zi ji all over the US, I eat it in a restaurant in southern
China but haven’t been able to find a reasonable facsimilie in the US. This was the closest I have had, I loved it. I think if I dice the chicken very, very small and cook it longer in the spices at the end, with the peppers cut up, I will nearly have what I dream about every time I come home…