Sichuan is the name of a province in China. It is also spelled as Szechuan or Szechwan in different regions of the world. Sichuan cuisine is well known and loved for its bold flavors which comes from the generous use of garlic, red chilies and Sichuan peppercorn. Originally foods from Sichuan cuisine are hot, spicy, pungent & sweet. Most Chinese restaurants serve foods that are toned down to suit the local palate.
About Schezwan Chicken
Schezwan Chicken also known as Szechuan chicken or Sichuan chicken is a Chinese style chicken appetizer popular on the Chinese restaurant menus & takeaways. Schezwan chicken is crisp fried chicken tossed in a spicy, sour, hot & tongue tickling Sichuan sauce. We love dipping our chicken appetizers in Schezwan sauce. In fact that’s our favorite way to enjoy both the sauce and the chicken as well. This dish takes your fried chicken to the next level because it’s tossed in a wok at a high heat with all of those magical sauces and aromatics. The resulting dish is super flavorful and delicious! I have also included lots of tips & substitutes for the ingredients. The recipe does not turn out to be very hot or spicy and it is basically my toned down version. For a spicier version you can simply triple the amount of red chilies and paste in the recipe. This recipe is roughly adapted from the variations I have tasted over the years in many Chinese restaurants. More Chicken RecipesChilli ChickenChicken ManchurianChicken LollipopChicken Biryani
How to Make Schezwan Chicken (Stepwise Photos)
Fry Chicken
- Add the chicken to a bowl along with soya sauce, salt, pepper powder and flour. Next add eff white only as needed and coat the chicken well. You can alternately skip egg and brine the chicken overnight following my tip in the recipe notes above. For spicier chicken you can also add little chilli paste like I did here.
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in a small pan. When the oil is hot enough, regulate the flame to medium. Then slide chicken pieces one after the other and fry them in batches. When the chicken turns golden & crisp, remove them to a steel colander. Tip: Do not crowd the pan by adding a lot of chicken to the pan while frying. Do not over fry as they tend to turn hard. Alternately you can also grill the chicken in oven by placing on a wired rack. More details in the recipe notes.
Make Schezwan Chicken
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Alternately remove the oil you used for deep frying to a small bowl. Turn off the stove for a minute and bring down the temperature of the oil slightly.
- Add the red chilies and fry for 30 seconds or until it turns crisp. Then add ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 minute.
- Then saute the spring onions for a minute on a high flame. Next add the sichuan peppercorn (ground for intense flavor, whole for milder flavor). Saute for 30 seconds.
- Then pour soya sauce.
- Next add red chilli paste or fermented chilli bean paste, vinegar, salt and sugar.
- Saute for a minute and then pour 3 to 4 tbsps water or oil.
- Mix and let the sauces bubble. The sauce will thicken slightly. Taste the sauce and add more chili paste, sugar etc to suit your taste. Ensure the sauce is tasting like you want it, then proceed further. You can also add more water if the sauce turns too thick.
- Add fried chicken and toss well in the sauce for 1 minute until the sauce coats the chicken well.
- Then add ground pepper (powder) and green onions. Serve szechuan chicken hot as a appetizer or side with fried rice or noodles. It is best served hot asthe crisp fried chicken begin to soften when it cools down.
Tips & substitutes
Sauce: This recipe needs Szechuan sauce or Schezwan sauce. You can easily make it following my instructions below or buy it from a store. If using store bought do choose one that has Sichuan peppercorn, red chilies and garlic as the key ingredients since they are the flavour enhancers here. Sichuan peppercorn is the star ingredient of the Sichuan chicken recipe. These tiny little peppercorn have a citrusy aroma with a tongue numbing & tickling sensation. I have shared a picture below. In case you prefer to make your own sauce like me then look out for these online. If you are not accessible to Sichuan pepper corn then simply substitute with ground pepper. The dish will still turn out great but you will miss the most important flavors of Sichuan food. Chicken: We love the crisp fried chicken in the Sichuan sauce so I either deep fry or grill it. The grilled version is healthier but the chicken does not crisp up like the fried version. You can also fry the chicken in a air fryer if you have. If you are into healthy eating you may pan fry but it will surely not turn the way I have shown in the pictures. Optional ingredient: Fermented bean paste known as Doubanjiang is another ingredient that is used in the authentic Sichuan cuisine. This is an optional ingredient and you can use it if you like it. Alternately you can also use fermented chilli bean paste to make the sauce & skip the red chili paste I mentioned below. Related Recipes
