Chicken Szechuan Peppercorn

I have had the Szechuan pepper corn chicken in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. During my days in Hong Kong, my husband’s assistant a local Hong Kong resident had recommended this blast of a dish to us and we used to have it regularly at the Lei Garden restaurant in Times Square. At first appearance, the dish looked like a hill of dry red chilies and we literally had to dig deep to find the pieces of chicken. It had a novel and strong taste as well as smell, which I later could link back to the Szechuan pepper corn. After having it a few times the taste grew on me and I decided to give it a try in the kitchen. I got my Szechuan pepper corn online which was a great help. Be sure to roast the peppercorn in a pan over low heat before grinding to get the maximum flavour blast. I have moderated the use of who red chili to suit our palate. That was one thing I didn’t like about the dish in Hong Kong. This one is for folks who like it  real hot and spicy. So here’s to fooding around with CSP!

Chicken Szechuan Peppercorn

• Author: Reetika Mitra
• Prep Time: 10min
• Cook Time: 15min
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 3 1x

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Description

Spicey Blast

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 600 gms Boneless Chicken, cubed into bite sized pieces
• 1 heaped tbsp Szechuan Peppercorn
• 3 – 4 dried whole Red Chillies
• Vegetable Oil for frying
• 1 tbsp grated Ginger
• 5 cloves Garlic, grated
• 1tablesp white sugar
• 2 tbsp Soya Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• Some chopped Spring Onion and Red chillies for Garnishing

For Marination :

• 3 Tbsp Mirin or rice wine
• 3 Tbsp Soya Sauce
• 1/2 Tsp White Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

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Instructions

1. Mix the cubed chicken along with the marinade ingredients and keep aside 30 mins or more.
2. In a frying pan over low heat light roast the Szechuan peppercorns. Cool and course grind them.
3. Flame on medium heat, add oil to the wok. Once hot, fry the chicken until crispy and brown. Do not over fry the chicken. Fry the chicken in batches. Remove and drain out the extra oil on kitchen towel. Set aside.
4. In a bowl mix together the rice wine, soya sauce.
5. Discard oil from the wok, leaving behind only 2 tbsp or so.
6. Add the whole red chillies, ginger, garlic. Toss for a minute before adding the freshly crushed Peppercorns. Stir a bit for a couple of minutes. Now add the fried chicken. Pour the bowl of rice wine and soya sauce. Add the sugar and the sesame oil. Toss well to coat.
7. Garnish with red chillies and chopped spring onions
8. Served best with steamed rice or noodles

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Notes

If you want the fried chicken pieces to be extra crispy, you can try double frying them. For that, the first round of fried chicken needs to be no more than light brown in colour.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 3