Dish of Chicken with Chilis
(click to enlarge)

Chicken with Chilis


China, Sichuan   -   Lazi ji
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 w/rice
***
1-1/4 hrs
Yes		 A very popular recipe in Sichuan restaurants, for good reason, and not anywhere near as hot as you might think it would be - see Comments.

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in

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Chicken meat (1)
-- Marinade
Ginger
Scallion White
Rice Wine (2)
Salt
-- Aromatics
Garlic
Ginger Root
Scallion Whites
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Chili, red dry (3)
Sichuan Pepper (4)
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Oil, deep fry
Oil
Chili Bean Paste (5)  
Rice Wine (2)
Salt
Sesame Oil dark
-- Garnish
Scallion Greens

We've divided this into 3 sections for easy work flow, allowing plenty time between the sections. The most tedious part, preparing the Chilis, could be done days ahead.

Prep   -   (40 min)
  1. Slice CHICKEN into 3/4 inch dice, or as close to that as you can get with your chicken.
  2. Lightly smash GINGER and SCALLION WHITE. Mix all Marinade items with the Chicken and massage together well. Set aside to marinate 1/2 hour or more, tumbling a couple times.
  3. Slice GARLIC thin. Trim 1/2 in GINGER as needed and slice very thin. Cut the slices into threads. Lightly Smash SCALLION WHITES. Mix all Aromatics.
  4. Slice some of the SCALLION GREENS thin and set aside for garnish.
  5. With Kitchen Shears, cut tops off of CHILIS. and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch lengths, shaking out as many seeds as you can.
  6. IF using traditional Pixan Broad Bean Paste, chop it fine.
DEEP FRY   -   (20 min)
  1. Remove Ginger and Scallions from the Marinade.
  2. In a wok, heat Oil to 375°F/190°C over highest heat. Stir in Chicken and fry stirring for about 5 minutes, or until just a touch of golden. Scoop out with your spider and set aside.
  3. Bring Oil back up to 375°F/190°C over highest heat. Stir the Chicken back in and fry stirring until golden and crispy, about another 4 minutes - watch that it doesn't get too dark. Scoop out with your spider and set aside.
  4. Pour out the Oil and wipe the wok with paper towels.
RUN   -   (10 min)
  1. In the wok, heat 3 T Oil over moderate flame (it can be some of the deep fry oil). Stir in Chili Bean Paste for about 30 seconds, then stir in Aromatics mix and stir until aromatic.
  2. Stir in Chili mix and fry stirring until aromatic and barely darkening.
  3. Stir in Chicken, then Rice Wine and Salt. Stir until Chicken is warmed and coated with the oil. Take off heat and stir in Sesame Oil.
  4. Garnish with Scallion Greens and serve hot with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken:

      Weight is for boneless chicken thigh meat, because thigh meat is moist and flavorful compared to the cardboard chicken breasts we get here. You can include squares of skin equivalent to the amount from the thighs, or a little more.

  2. Rice Wine:

      Use a good drinkable Rice Wine, not that horrid salted "cooking wine". If you don't have it, use a dry Sherry. Sake is made of rice but not considered a good substitute, it's beer, not wine. For details see our Chinese Rice Wine page.

  3. Red Chilis:

      The common Japones work very well, and give a result that is just satisfying spicy by Southern California standards. If you need more mild, you'll have to find Facing Heaven chilis on the Internet. For details see our Chinese Chilis page.

  4. Sichuan Peppercorns:

      Fruits of a prickly ash tree, - nothing at all like black peppercorns. Asian recipes always call for them to be lightly toasted before use, but to be legally imported into the USA they must already be lightly toasted, so I skip that step. For details see our Sichuan Pepper page.

  5. Chili Broad Bean Paste:

      If at all possible, this should be Sichuan Chili Broad Bean Paste. If you just can't get it, you can use a Chili Soybean Paste. For details see our Fava Bean / Broad Bean Products page.

  6. Comments:

      The role of the Chilis is to provide color and aroma. They're too tough to eat. The pieces of Chicken are simply picked out (with chopsticks in China, but a salad fork is also good) leaving the Chilis on the plate. Don't worry about the amount of oil, nearly all of it gets left behind with the Chilis. The pattern recipe had an option to scatter 1/2 t Toasted Sesame Seeds as part of the Garnish. This is fine if you have them on hand, as I always do, but not worthwhile making for just this one dish.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch ar=as required tt=to taste
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