1/17/2024 0 Comments Spicy szechuan chicken recipe![]() I consider it even more important than Sichuan chili peppers, truly distinguishing the dish and giving it a character unlike anything else. These corns add a savory, smokey and slightly citrusy flavor to a dish, and that is what makes it genuine Sichuan food. Its taste is almost indescribable: numbing, tingling, and somewhat refreshing like mint. Fresh Sichuan peppercorns have a pungent aroma that lingers around the nose. Sichuan peppercorn (Hua Jiao, 花椒) is another key ingredient that you might not be familiar with. And you can control the heat level by leaving the peppers whole for a milder dish, or slicing them to expose the seeds for a much spicier dish. The short, fat Lantern Peppers (Deng Long Jiao, 灯笼椒) are often added for their nice smoky flavor. In the recipe for La Zi Ji, chefs usually use medium heat Facing Heaven Chili (Chao Tian Jiao, 朝天椒). There are a few types of Sichuan chili peppers that are commonly used in Sichuan cuisine. To cook the real-deal La Zi Ji, Sichuan chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns are the two irreplaceable key ingredients. I included two methods in the recipe below, so you can either include or exclude the peppercorns. You need to keep a sharp eye and shake off these fiery little corns before placing a piece of chicken on your tongue, otherwise your tastebuds will completely shut down for the next 10 minutes. Tons of numbing, tingling, whole Sichuan peppercorns are used.I used a ton of peppers in the dish for the presentation, but feel free to reduce the amount because it doesn’t affect the flavor too much. The amount of chili peppers in the dish far exceeds the amount of chicken, so you’ll need to spend quite some time digging through the peppers in order to find a chunk of meat.But here we make things easy by using boneless thighs. It takes some effort to pick the meat from the bones, which makes eating it extra satisfying. Chinese chefs usually use tiny bone-in chicken pieces to cook this dish.Here are some fun facts about the authentic Mala Chicken we serve in China: The nutty, smoky fragrance of the vibrant peppers reaches your nostrils before your chopsticks do, and it makes your mouth water and makes you suddenly feel ten times hungrier. Hiding the chicken under a mountain of peppers is just the authentic Sichuan way to display the food. It is not like pure, tear-inducing Thai-style spiciness. The dish offers a deep savory taste using heat as a medium. In this chicken dish, the balance comes from the spiciness and smokiness of the chili peppers, the numbing tingling Sichuan peppercorns, the nuttiness of the sesame seeds, savory aromatics, salt, and a small amount of sugar. Sichuan cuisine pursues truly bold flavors that are well-balanced. ![]() La Zi Ji is spicy, but not as spicy as it looks. After staring at the plate for a few moments, they would cautiously dig up a piece of hot chicken with suspicion written on their brow, fearful that it might burn a hole in their stomach.Īnd you know what? My guests always ended up loving this dish. ![]() Although my initial goal was to introduce genuine Sichuan food to the uninitiated, I confess that secretly I just loved my colleagues’ stunned faces on seeing the giant plate of chili peppers placed before them. ![]() Mala Chicken was one of the dishes that always appeared on our lunch table. When introducing someone who’s new to Chinese food to the real deal La Zi Ji (辣子鸡), or Sichuan Mala Chicken, I’d describe the dish as “fried chicken covered in hot sauce” so it won’t completely scare them away.ĭuring my years working in Beijing, I took every single foreign colleague to one of my favorite Sichuan restaurants, Yu Xiang Ren Jia (渝乡人家). It is spicy yet you cannot stop eating it because it’s SO GOOD! It’s then stir fried with tons of dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger and garlic to create a spicy numbing sensation. The chicken is coated with spices and flash fried until golden brown and crispy. La Zi Ji is a signature Sichuan dish that is extremely popular in China. Take the challenge if you can handle the heat! What is La Zi Ji Sichuan La Zi Ji features crispy chicken smothered in chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and tons of aromatics to create an electrifyingly hot numbing sensation that’s so addictive. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |