(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
My love affair with Szechuan food began about 2 years ago when I first visited China. Before my trip to China, the notion of trying out Szechuan food was never high on my “what-to-eat” list. Then, when I wanted to have Chinese food, I would go for Dim Sum, Malaysian Chinese food, or typical Cantonese-style BBQ or seafood meals.
It all changed when I went to China and had my first real Szechuan meal in a popular restaurant called Xiao Lu Lu (小鹭鹭) in Shanghai. I fell under the spell of this exquisitely flavorful cuisine immediately; it was indeed love at first bite. I was marveled by the depth and the spice structure of the cooking and wished only that I’d discovered Szechuan cuisine earlier. In a way, my trip to China opened up a whole new chapter in my culinary world and gave me access to ingredients and flavors that I’ve never thought possible. In my opinion (without sounding too cliché), Szechuan food is the new Thai, but more complex and more explosive in flavor…
The secret ingredient of Szechuan food is Szechuan pepper (花椒)–the medium that gives Szechuan food the staple tingly numbing effect (麻). Szechuan pepper exudes rich aroma and exotic scent to dishes and together with dried chili pepper, they give the Ma La (麻辣) flavor that is signature to Sichuan food. And believe me when I say this, once you’ve tried Ma La (麻辣), there is no turning back.
One of the Szechuan dishes that I absolutely love is Szechuan wok-fried chicken and I made it this past weekend. This chili-laden dish was alluringly tongue-numbing, explosively fiery, and pleasantly addictive. However, it’s just not the easiest dish to make at home (my smoke alarm went off while I was trying to wok hei (鑊氣) this dish!), but the result and experience were certainly satisfying.
So, do you like Ma La (麻辣) Szechuan food?
Ingredients:
1 boneless and skinless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
12 dried red chilies
1 tablespoon of Szechuan peppercorn
5 slices of peeled ginger
5 slices of garlic
1 stalk of scallion (julienned for garnishing)
1 sprig of coriander (for garnishing)
1 fresh red chili (julienned for garnishing)
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine (rice wine or Shaoxing wine preferred)
Salt to taste
Method:
Cut the chicken breast into cubes and dip them into batter and deep fry to golden brown. Set aside. In a wok, heat up some oil until smoke comes out. Add in the sliced ginger, garlic, and stir fry until they turn light brown. Add in the dried chilies, Szechuan pepper and quick stir them until you smell the spicy and fragrant aroma. Add in the chicken cubes and seasoning and do a final quick stir. Serve hot and garnish with scallion, coriander, and red chili.
Related Posts:
- Chicken Kebab (Chicken Kabab) Recipe
- Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken) Recipe
- Fried Chicken Recipe
Get new recipes via RSS and reader or subscribe via email
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Try the same thing with eggplants. it is UNBELIEVABLY good
Reply
Shiny Blue Black - I have never tried eggplants with this…thanks for your reco. :)
Reply
Hot hot hot! This is too spicy for me!
Reply
Frens & I call those peppercorns ‘lil bombs’. Personally I dislike d tongue/mouth numbing feeling but was told that one can get real ‘high’ on them!
Reply
Sichuan food rocks! You know we pandas like it spicy.
- Chubbypanda
Reply
This dish is on the fiery side! I love the idea though of the commenters to add eggplant. I almost thought the chicken was fried tofu at first. I might make this for my vegetarian friends using tofu instead. Would you agree? (I need to ask the cooking pro first.) It might be too hot, because the tofu would absorb all of the heat from the chilies.
Reply
hi rasa malaysia, nice blog u have here…and i love ur neat, clean template! do u mind sharing where u got it?? thanks much!
Reply
so many herbs and spicies, should be hard to prepare!
Reply
Simcooks - I don’t blame you…some people don’t like the Ma La flavor.
Tummythoz - I am addicted to them. I loooove the numbing tingly sensation.
Chubbypanda - Yep. I love spicy food. Period.
PE - The chicken does look like tofu on the picture! I think it’s a great idea to try with tofu…as for the tofu absorbing the heat, I think you should be fine if you coat the tofu with batter and then deep fry them.
Syren - Thanks for visiting Rasa Malaysia and thanks for your kind comment. I got the template here, but changed the code a little bit. Here is the URL for the template: http://thrbrtemplates.blogspot.com/
Ho Jiak - It wasn’t super hard, but not that easy either. You should try it out since it’s impossible to get any Szechuan food in Penang.
Reply
I love Szechuan hot and sour soup, and 干煸四季豆!
Reply
I love Szechuan hot and sour soup, and 干煸四季豆!
Reply
How I wish I’d had your guide when I visited Penang… this is the food I dream of!
Reply
I love sichuan peppers (hua jiao). My friends and I recently had Sichuan-style hot pot. It was punishing. Are you able to find hua jiao at 99 Ranch? I’ve been wanting to take my chinese beef noodle soup (nu ro mian() to another level.
Reply
Tigerfish - 干煸四季豆 is very delightful, I like it too, but I am not a big fan of hot and sour soup…probably because I have too many bad ones in the US. ;)
Stephanie - thanks. Next time, pring out my guide before you go to Penang. :P
Eatdrinknbmerry - yes, you can get the hua jiao in 99 Ranch. They are available. :)
Reply
Hi Bee
I am so excited about finding your blog. I love Malaysain food and used to eat it a lot in London, but in San Francisco there is none. SO I need to learn to cook it, you can be sure I am going to be cheking out your site when I have some spare time after Menu for Hope.
thanks for your support
sam,
Reply
I love 干煸四季豆!
Reply
Hey Sam,
Thanks for your kind words and a very warm welcome!
There are quite a few Malaysian restaurants in the bay Area. In San Francisco, I like Singapore and Malaysia Restaurant in Clement. It’s run by a family who came from Penang. Very good and homey. In San Francisco Chinatown, there is a Penang Village (I think) and in Daly City, there is Banana Island. In the valley, there are Banana Leaf, Layang Layang, and a few more. :)
And yes, cooking at home will do too. ;)
Eatdrinknmerry - it’s hard not to like 干煸四季豆! Simple and delicious. :)
Reply
Oh, Penang Village is @ Coleman Avenue, Santa Clara.
I’ve eaten those real Szechuan 干煸四季豆 where the long beans are “wrinkled” and crisp. Do you know how they make it?
Reply
Looks delicious! May I know how you made the batter for the chicken? Thanks.
Reply
Jess, I used store-bought batter mix, coat the chicken with the batter, deep fry, voila. ;)
Reply
잘 보고 갑니다.
Reply
hi there, just like to know, what is the best substitute for chinese cooking wine?
Reply
Anonymous - you can use sherry or sake (the one for cooking).
Reply
hi, what batter do we use?
Reply
You can use all purpose flour for your batter or buy store-bought fried chicken batter.
Reply
COuld you tell me where I can Szechwan peppercorns in Malaysia? Can I find it in any grocery shop (Tesco, Giant etc?) int he spice section. I’ve looked but couldn’t find it!!
Reply
Er.. this is a really unique dish.. but can anyone plse share how to do the batter? Is plain flour or corn flour ok? Do you need to dip in egg first, then in the flour or what? Different people have different ways of doing this.
thanks alot!
Reply
Hi, Rasa Malaysia,
What is I can’t add rice wine (alcohol) in the recipe? Is there anything to substitute the rice wine with non-alcohol ingredient?
serena.
Reply
FINALLY! I have been searching for a good Asian food blog forEVER! I stumbled upon your blog and I’m so glad I did. Not only is it filled with great Asian food, but the photography and food plating is just beautiful. I really love your blog (at first sight) and plan to visit often. Expect me to make some of your dishes here and there because I LOVE Asian food! I’ll be sure to let you know when I do.
Reply
I think this will be todays dinner :)
Reply
This Szechuan Wok-fried Chicken sounds hot. Im gonna try making this using your Szechuan Wok-fried Chicken recipe when winter comes. ;)
Reply
Thanks for the recipe. I had this La Ji Jie when I was on vacation in China somewhere in Hangzhou we went to a Sichuan restaurant. Wow…this is the hottest dish I have ever had in my life. Will try to make this dish with your recipe for my bf it’s his favorite dish.
Pucca
Reply
I love chillies! This looks like a recipe to try ;)
Reply
Hello,
I have some questions about this recipe:
1) I’m trying to find a good Chinese fried chicken batter recipe. I’m guessing that using egg and milk, common in U.S. Southern fried chicken, isn’t authentic, correct?
Would you make any changes to this Chinese fried chicken batter recipe?
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 pinches baking soda
4 tbsp cornstarch
Combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 cup cold water. Whip with wire whisk to mix well.
2) Is it necessary to dip the chicken in flour before dipping it in batter? I’ve found some recipes that say one thing, and others never mention dipping in flour.
3) For this part: “Add in the chicken cubes and seasoning and do a final quick stir.” By “seasonings” did you mean the soy sauce and cooking wine?
Thanks in advance.
Reply