Spicy chicken cubes, a distinctive Han Chinese dish, belong to the Sichuan cuisine and are a well-known “river and lake” style dish from eastern Sichuan, named after Mount Geleshan. Dried chili peppers, though not the main ingredient, play a significant role, showcasing the characteristic heavy-handedness of river and lake chefs. After being refined by the chefs at Bagu Buyi, the dish's flavor has become even more unique, with a lustrous, reddish-brown color, tender and crispy texture, strong spicy and numbing taste. It is savory, fragrant, slightly sweet, and an unforgettable delicacy for those who try it.
Complete Guide on How to Make Spicy Chicken Cubes: Recipe One
Ingredients: 250g boneless chicken breast, 50g water chestnuts, 15g pickled red chilies, 1 egg, an appropriate amount of starch.
Seasonings: 50g lard, 0.5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp chicken broth, 0.5 tbsp cooking wine, 2 green onions, 1 small piece of ginger, 6 cloves of garlic, an appropriate amount of vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp sugar, 1 tsp monosodium glutamate (MSG).
1. Remove the tendons and membranes from the boneless chicken breast, wash and cut into cubes, then mix with salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, and MSG for marination.
2. Peel and cut the water chestnuts into cubes; remove the stems and seeds from the pickled chilies and finely chop them; wash and mince the green onions, ginger, and garlic; mix the egg white, starch, and water into a thin batter.
3. Place a wok over high heat, add lard and heat until hot, coat the chicken cubes with the thin batter and stir-fry until cooked through.
4. Add the chopped pickled chilies and quickly stir-fry until the chicken cubes turn bright red, then add the water chestnuts, ginger, green onions, and garlic, stir-fry until fragrant, pour in the mixed sauce made of salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, MSG, starch, and chicken broth, stir-fry quickly, and finish with a drizzle of vinegar.
Tips
1. You can also use Pixian broad bean paste instead of pickled chilies and fresh bamboo shoots instead of water chestnuts for this dish.
2. Trick for removing blood and fishiness from poultry: If the blood is not drained properly from slaughtered chickens or ducks, the meat will turn black and have a fishy smell when cooked. Soaking the chicken or duck meat in clear water until it turns white before cooking can effectively remove the fishy smell.
Complete Guide on How to Make Spicy Chicken Cubes: Recipe Two
Main Ingredients: 125g chicken
Secondary Ingredients: 40g egg white, 20g red chili pepper
Seasonings: 10g green onions, 5g ginger, 5g garlic, 10g potato starch, 5g vinegar, 5g cooking wine, 5g soy sauce, 5g salt, 100g vegetable oil
Preparation Process
1. Chop the fresh red chili peppers finely and set aside.
2. Mix half of the starch, half of the cooking wine, egg white, and salt to make an egg-white starch slurry and set aside.
3. Peel and slice the ginger and garlic thinly, shred the white part of the green onions, dilute the remaining starch with water, mix with soy sauce, cooking wine, and chicken broth to make a green onion and ginger sauce slurry and set aside.
4. Lightly pound the chicken breast with the flat side of a knife to make it tender and easier to absorb flavors, then cut into chicken cubes, mix with the prepared egg-white starch slurry, and let sit for several minutes.
5. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over high heat until warm, add the chicken cubes and stir-fry while separating them to prevent sticking, and then drain off the excess oil after frying.
6. Pour out the remaining oil in the pan, then return the fried chicken cubes to the hot pan, add the chopped red chili peppers and stir-fry briefly, then add the prepared green onion and ginger sauce slurry, stir-fry a few times, and finish with a drizzle of vinegar.
Preparation Tips
The recommended choice for the chicken is boneless chicken breast.
Complete Guide on How to Make Spicy Chicken Cubes: Recipe Three
1. Cut the chicken breast into cubes, mix with soy sauce, cooking wine, and starch, marinate for 20 minutes;
2. Roast sesame seeds in a pot, remove, cool, and set aside for later use.
3. Slice the ginger, cut the green onions into sections.
4. Heat oil in a pot, when it reaches 80% hot, add the chicken cubes and quickly fry until they turn white, then remove and drain off the excess oil;
5. Heat up the oil in the pot, when it reaches 60% hot, add dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger slices, and green onion sections, stir-fry until fragrant, then add broad bean paste, splash with wine along the edge of the pot, add chicken cubes and peanuts, stir-fry evenly, then add an appropriate amount of sugar and salt, stir-fry the roasted sesame seeds evenly, and serve.
Complete Guide on How to Make Spicy Chicken Cubes: Recipe Four
Main Ingredients:
400g boneless chicken breast, green and red chili peppers, mushrooms, shredded dried chili peppers, pickled chilies
Secondary Ingredients:
Hot sauce, monosodium glutamate (MSG), salt, sugar, cooking wine, egg white, starch, white pepper powder, peanut oil, green onions, and ginger as needed
Preparation Steps:
1. Dice the boneless chicken breast, green and red chili peppers, and mushrooms.
2. Place the chicken cubes in a bowl, mix with monosodium glutamate (MSG), salt, white pepper powder, cooking wine, egg white, and starch for marination.
3. Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry the chicken cubes until cooked, then remove and drain off the oil.
4. Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry the shredded dried chili peppers, pickled chilies, hot sauce, green onions, and ginger until fragrant, then add cooking wine, diced green and red chili peppers, diced mushrooms, and chicken cubes.
5. Season, stir-fry evenly, thicken with a slurry, and finish with a drizzle of clarified oil.
Characteristics: Tender and juicy chicken, full of spicy flavor.
Complete Guide on How to Make Spicy Chicken Cubes: Recipe Five
Ingredients:
150g tender chicken, 6g cornstarch, 6g pickled chili peppers, an appropriate amount of soy sauce, sugar, salt, green onions, ginger, wet starch, Shaoxing wine, vinegar, monosodium glutamate (MSG), 1 egg, diced water chestnuts (or walnuts, lettuce).
Preparation Method:
1. Cut the chicken into small pieces, mix with egg white, cornstarch, and salt, and mix evenly. Add the diced water chestnuts (or walnuts, lettuce) and fry in hot lard for 10 seconds. Add the pickled chili peppers, green onions, and ginger and stir-fry together.
2.