Schezwan chicken
Spicy Schezwan Chicken with step by step pictures. This recipe is a delicious chicken preparation that tastes hot and spicy with a unique aroma of schezwan sauce. My love for spicy foods have taken over my cooking too. Couple weeks back i was in a spicy mood, so decided to try out some schezwan cuisine. And i am telling you, this has become one of my favorite foods in the world. At first i made my homemade schezwan sauce. And then made couple of dishes from the sauce. I tried a schezwan fried rice and noodles . Both of them turned out to be absolutely delicious. It was love at first bite.
About Schezwan chicken
Schezwan is also pronounced as sichuan. Sichuan is a province in China which is known for its spicy foods. While dishes from sichuan cuisine uses sichuan peppercorn, but we use locally available chilli peppers instead of peppercorn. Schezwan chicken is made by marinating chicken with garlic, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper. This marinated chicken is fried till crispy and tossed in homemade schezwan sauce. Another version is my schezwan fried chicken which is made with marinated chicken fried with a sesame coating. Traditionally Schezwan foods are fiery and spicy, but Chinese restaurants in India has modified the recipe to suit Indian taste palate. Schezwan chicken is one of the most loved take out food from Chinese restaurants. It is equally popular in street foods around India. These days you can easily find readymade schezwan sauce at stores, but when you can whip up the sauce your own, then why would you go for those stuffs. I strongly recommend you to try out schezwan sauce at home and then make your dishes. Because the sauce is what makes this so flavourful.
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Watch Schezwan Chicken Video
Schezwan Chicken Ingredients
Chicken - You can use boneless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast which makes this dish super juicy. Also the amount of sauce totally depends to your taste. Garlic - I like to add lots of crushed garlic when making schezwan chicken. It adds aroma also removes the chicken smell. Seasonings- as far as seasoning, I used soy sauce, salt, chilli flakes and pepper. Cornstarch - this makes a crispy coating over the chicken. Also prevents the chicken from drying out when frying. Schezwan sauce - I used homemade Schezwan sauce which is easy to make and taste at its best. If you don’t have the time to make homemade Schezwan sauce, you can use store bought.
Homemade Schezwan Sauce Recipe
Schezwan sauce is one of the most popular sauce from the sichuan cuisine. Not only in sichuan cusine, it is getting more popular as Indo-Chinese in restaurants. Some of the most popular dishes include schezwan chicken, schezwan noodles and spicy schezwan fried rice. Schezwan sauce is made with dry red chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and tomato ketchup cooked down to make a thick sauce like texture.
Schezwan Sauce Ingredients
30 no Dry Red Chillies ¼ cup Garlic peeled and crushed 4 tbsp Ginger peeled and grated ¼ cup Tomato ketchup 1 tbsp Soy Sauce 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder if you have sichuan pepper use them 3 tbsp Sugar ¼ cup Oil ¼ cup Vinegar
How to Make Schezwan Sauce
Take dry chillies and cut the top open. Remove the seeds out of it. Now take the chillies and add it to a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer it for 5 mins. By this time the chillies must have plumped up. Drain chillies. Reserve the water, you need that for grinding. Take the chillies in a blender add the reserved water slowly and make them into a paste. Set aside till use. Now heat oil in a sauce pan. Add in garlic and ginger. Fry it for couple of mins. Now add in the chilli paste and mix well. Now add in ketchup, soya sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Mix well. Simmer this sauce for 10 to 12 minutes on very low heat. Cook until oil separates on top. Now the sauce is done. Cool this and store in a clean air tight container refrigerated.
Schezwan chicken (sichuan chicken) dry or gravy
Like all popular Chinese foods like chilli chicken, chicken manchurian, dragon chicken and garlic chicken, you can make this dish gravy or dry. While dry Schezwan chicken is perfect as an appetizer and gravy is best to serve with fried rice or noodles. Schezwan chicken can be made dry or gravy as per your liking. You can adjust the consistency of Schezwan chicken to your liking. If you prefer it to be saucy side, add a cup of water to the sauce before adding chicken. You can thicken the sauce with some cornstarch slurry. Make sure to toss the chicken with the sauce in a wok on high heat for wok-hay flavour. You can add lots of green onions, sesame seeds in the end for more presentable look.
Tips for best Schezwan chicken
Choosing chicken - You can use boneless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast which makes the chicken super juicy. If you are using chicken breast, fry the chicken for less time. So it stays juicy. Adjust sauce - the amount of sauce totally depends to your taste. You can add more or less of the Schezwan sauce to suit the taste. Add-ons vegetables - you can include vegetables like bell peppers, onions, bamboo shoots, mushrooms for added texture. Stir fry the veggies on high heat in the wok before adding the sauce and chicken. Dry or Gravy - Schezwan chicken can be made dry or gravy as per your liking. You can adjust the consistency of Schezwan chicken to your liking. If you prefer it to be saucy side, add a cup of water to the sauce before adding chicken. You can thicken the sauce with some cornstarch slurry.
How to Make Schezwan Sauce (Stepwise Pictures)
Making Chilli Paste
1)Take your dry red chillies. Schezwan sauce flavour mainly depends on chillies. Since it has good amount of chillies, I removed all seeds from it before making it into a paste. If you don’t like spicy foods, you can use milder variety of dry red chillies like Kashmiri chillies. 2)Remove the stalk of the dry red chillies. Remove all the seeds from the dry red chillies. 3)Take water in a sauce pan. Bring it to a full boil. Add the dry red chillies into the water. Reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 minutes to soften the chillies. 4)Strain the chillies in a sieve. 5)Take the chillies in a blender. Add water and grind it into a puree. 6)This is your dry red chilli paste. You can use the strained water from boiling water to grind it into a paste.
Sauteing Ginger and Garlic
7)Heat oil in a sauce pan. I used neutral cooking oil. 8)Add in crushed or puree garlic in the oil and cook on low heat. 9)Add in peeled crushed ginger. You can either chop the ginger or grind into a puree. 10)Fry the ginger and garlic on low heat till golden brown. The ginger and garlic will get fragrant.
Making Schezwan Sauce
11)Add in red chilli paste into the oil and mix well. 12)Add in tomato ketchup. Instead of ketchup, you can use tomato paste. 13)Add in soy sauce. 14)Add in salt, sugar and black pepper. If you have access to sichuan pepper, you can add crushed sichuan peppercorn. 15)Cook the schezwan sauce on low heat for 10 to 12 minutes until oil separates on top. 16)Now the schezwan sauce is ready. Once sauce is made, allow it to cool completely. Store in a clean dry air tight jar in fridge upto a month.
How to Make Schezwan Chicken (Stepwise Pictures)
Marinating Chicken
17)Take few boneless chicken, cut them into small pieces. You can use either chicken breast or thigh. Take chicken in a bowl. 18)Add in salt, pepper and red chilli flakes. 19)Add in few crushed garlic cloves. 20)Add in soy sauce. 21)Now add in cornstarch and mix well. You can add some water and mix. 22)Let the chicken sit and rest for 5 mins.
Frying Chicken for Schezwan Chicken
23)Heat oil for deep frying. Add chicken in hot oil and fry till golden brown. 24)Fry chicken till golden brown. 25)Strain the chicken and set aside.
Making Schezwan Chicken
26)Now in a pan, add few spoons of schezwan sauce. Add little water over the sauce as well. 27)Mix it well and let it get heated through. 28)Now add in the fried chicken and toss well. 29)You can easily make this into schezwan chicken gravy. Check my notes section. 30)Add in chopped coriander leaves or spring onions. 31)Mix well. 32)Serve hot.
Expert Tips
You can use chicken thigh or breast for making this dish. Make sure to cut the chicken into small pieces so it cooks faster. You can slice them into strips. Add more or less sauce depending on your taste. You can add vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and onions.
Storage Suggestions
Cooked schezwan chicken taste great when served fresh. It tends lose its crispy texture but the taste remains same. You can store it in fridge upto 2 to 3 days, reheat in microwave for few seconds and serve.
Serving with Schezwan Chicken
Schezwan chicken taste great on its own as an appetizer. You can enjoy with fried rice, noodles or soups. This chicken is best served with fried rice, noodles or with soups. We enjoy it with steamed veg momos and chilli garlic momos. Here are few options for you to serve with. Fried Rice - choice of fried rice options are veg fried rice, chicken fried rice, egg fried rice, mushroom fried rice and hot garlic fried rice. Noodles - my favorite combination with schezwan chicken is veg noodles and hakka noodles and paneer noodles. Soups - enjoy with chicken clear soup, hot & sour chicken soup, chicken soup & veg soup.
What is Szechuan chicken sauce made of?
Schezwan chicken is made by marinating chicken with garlic, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper. This marinated chicken is fried till crispy and tossed in homemade schezwan sauce. Schezwan sauce has chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar.
What is the difference between Szechuan and Manchurian chicken?
Schezwan chicken mainly gets its flavour from dry red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns. It has a unique aroma which makes this special from Manchurian.
What is another name for Szechuan chicken?
Schezwan chicken is also known as Sichuan chicken or Mala chicken.
Is Schezwan Chinese or Indian?
Traditionally Schezwan foods are fiery and spicy, but Chinese restaurants in India has modified the recipe to suit Indian taste palate. Schezwan chicken is one of the most loved take out food from Chinese restaurants. It is equally popular in street foods around India.
More Schezwan Recipes to try
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