Làzǐ jī (辣子鸡 ) does not have a direct translation in English. Spicy chicken is the literal translation, but the same is true for another dish, Málà jīròu (麻辣鸡肉). Làzǐ jī is a famous dish in Chinese Sichuan cuisine, but the most descriptive translation is Hot Pepper (辣子, Làzǐ) Chicken, or more loosely, “Sichuan Chili Chicken,” even though “Sichuan” (四川) is not part of the Chinese name for the dish.
Làzǐ jī, or “Hot Pepper Chicken” is characterized by hot spice, crispy texture and rich aroma. For people who like to eat spicy food this dish will become one of your favorites. We use rehydrated dried xiaomila chili peppers, garlic, green onions, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and Sichuan peppercorn oil to season this dish.
Hot Pepper Chicken is also easy to make at home, because it doesn’t have complicated processes and professional chef techniques. You can prepare this dish successfully with just a few steps.
How to cook Sichuan Chili Chicken (Làzǐ jī)?
First of all, judging by the name of the dish, we need to prepare chicken and chili peppers. I use a chicken half in this recipe, but you can substitute chicken breast or thighs. Then according to the characteristics of this dish, we need to prepare the corresponding seasoning. I’m from Guangxi, but I really like to eat spicy food, so Chinese Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine are my favorites. If you also like spicy food, then please cook hot pepper chicken with me.
Hot Pepper Chicken
Equipment
- 1 wok
- 1 wok spatula
- 1 heat safe container for hot oil
- 1 mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 600-700 g cleaned, raw chicken half (substitute chicken breast or thighs)
- 50 g dried xiaomila “millet” peppers
- 4 cloves garlic
Chicken marinade:
- 3 ml salt
- 10 ml Shaoxing cooking wine (substitute white cooking sherry)
- 8 ml light soy sauce
- 30 ml cornstarch
Stir-fry:
- 3 ml salt (test the taste before adding salt)
- 2 green onions
- 5 ml light soy sauce
- 3 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil
- 3 ml toasted sesame oil
- sesame seeds (to taste)
- 10 ml cooking oil
Instructions
- Wash the chicken and green onion.
- Finely chop the green onion and garlic cloves.
- Finely chop the dried chilies and soak in water.
- Cut the chicken into cubes and marinate: add 3ml of salt, 10ml of cooking wine, 8ml of light soy sauce, stir well, then add starch, stir well, set aside.600-700 g cleaned, raw chicken half, 3 ml salt, 10 ml Shaoxing cooking wine , 8 ml light soy sauce, 30 ml cornstarch
- Fill a wok ⅓ to ½ with oil and heat to 160°C (320℉). Fry the chicken in the hot oil.
- When the chicken nuggets start to solidify, disperse the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon, then use medium heat to fry the chicken pieces until golden brown. Remove the chicken nuggets and drain the oil into a heat-proof container.600-700 g cleaned, raw chicken half
- Drain the chili peppers in a sieve, and shake to remove all the water.
- Clean the wok if necessary: use warm running tap water, and a nylon scrubber. Do not use any dish soap as this will strip the seasoning from your wok. Rinse out the wok, wipe dry, and place over a high flame to heat. When the wok just begins to smoke, swirl a small amount of cooking oil in the wok, then pour it off.
- Add 10ml of oil to the clean, heated wok, add minced garlic, stir-fry until fragrant (a few seconds), then add the drained chili and stir-fry, tossing and turning the chili quickly.4 cloves garlic, 10 ml cooking oil, 50 g dried xiaomila “millet” peppers
- Add the chicken nuggets and season (3ml salt, 5ml light soy sauce, 3ml sesame oil, 3ml peppercorn oil). Stir-fry well.3 ml salt, 5 ml light soy sauce , 3 ml toasted sesame oil, 3 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil
- Add the green onion and sesame seeds. Stir-fry quickly. Finish.2 green onions, sesame seeds
Notes
- When frying chicken nuggets, the oil temperature should not be too low, because we need to fry the chicken nuggets until the skin is crispy. When the corn starch makes the chicken nuggets start to solidify into a ball, use a slotted spoon or spider web skimmer to disperse the chicken nuggets. During the frying process, we need to turn the chicken nuggets occasionally. Allow the chicken pieces to heat evenly.
- Note that when frying, hot oil may splash out of the pan due to the water content of chicken nuggets, so be careful with hot oil.
- When chopping dried peppers, you can use a knife or kitchen scissors. Finally, remove some of the chili seeds that have fallen inside. Soaking dried chilies in water is to prevent the peppers from getting too hot and blackening during cooking.
- In this dish, you can choose to use chicken thighs, or chicken breasts.
- Before adding salt, add the other seasonings and then test the flavor. Soy sauces can be very salty.
Nutrition
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