Sizzling Fragrant Crispy-Fried Chicken

Ma Xiang Ganbian Ji (麻香干煸鸡)

Crispy chicken is stir-fried with sizzling Sichuan peppercorns and fragrant onions. Dark soy sauce and Sichuan chilies add a bright red hue to this delicious chicken dish.

This Crispy-Fried Chicken Dish features a rather unique flavor combination known as Sizzling Fragrant (麻香). It’s both sizzling and numbing but also fragrant and flavorful. While I personally like to make this dish rather spicy, spiciness is not necessary. Sizzling Fragrant Crispy-Fried Chicken can actually be quite mild so long as it pops with sizzling flavor from Sichuan Peppercorns and fragrant flavor from Onions.

Onion is not a common ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. Usually, it is only found in Crispy Wok-Fried Dishes (干锅). Though Crispy-Fried Chicken (干煸鸡) uses a different method of cooking, Onion still works well in this dish. The strong oniony bite mellows to a subtle oniony sweetness. Serve this Chicken in a heated clay pot, and the Onion will continue to cook and develop its flavor alongside other Aromatics like Garlic, Ginger, and Green Chilies.

I loved to get this dish at a local restaurant in China. There, it was simply called Sizzling Fragrant Chicken (麻香鸡), though it used the same cooking method as Crispy-Fried Chicken (干煸鸡). The Chicken would always be served in a heated clay pot with a bowl of white rice on the side, and I always make this dish in the same manner. Paired with a cold bottle of pear flavored tea, my nostalgia for this dish is complete.

Prep Time: 35 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Total Time: 45 min

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

1/2 of a Chicken

Marinade
1 Tbsp. Shaoxing Rice Wine
1 tsp. Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. White Pepper

2 Tbsp. Corn Starch

Aromatics
3 long spicy Green Chilies
2 cloves of Garlic
1 2-inch block of Ginger
1/2 of a large Yellow Onion

Chilies
1 cup of 1-inch-pieces of Dried Red Chilies (About 10 – 15 grams)
1 Tbsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns (About 5 grams)

Peanut Oil (Enough for Deep Frying)

Seasonings
1 Tbsp. Shaoxing Rice Wine
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. MSG

Brightening Oil
1 tsp. Sichuan Pepper Oil

Directions

1.) Wash the Chicken thoroughly, pat it dry with paper towels, and then chop the Chicken into thick slices around 1.5-inches thick. Hit hard to chop through the bone and try to cut as evenly as possibly. Cut these slices into large cubes.

(The size of the cubes should be a bit larger than an inch; 2-inches is the maximum size and around 1 1/2-inches is the perfect size. This size should be Chicken Bites 鸡块 and not like the Chicken Bits 鸡丁 used in Spicy Chili Chicken).

2.) Place the Chicken in a large bowl and add the Marinade (Rice Wine, Dark Soy Sauce, Salt, and White Pepper). Mix thoroughly by hand until the sauce has been mostly absorbed. Then mix in the Corn Starch by hand until every piece is fully coated. Allow the Chicken to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to half an hour.

3.) Prepare all of the Aromatics, placing them all in a large bowl:

• Green Chilies: cut the Chilies into 1-inch pieces.
• Garlic: peel and slice the Garlic.
• Ginger: peel and slice the Ginger.
• Onion: peel, halve, and quarter the Onion, setting aside half of the Onion for this dish.

4.) Snip the Chilies into 1-inch pieces and remove most of the seeds. Set them aside in a different bowl with the Sichuan Peppercorns to make the bowl of Chilies.

5.) Fill a seasoned wok at least 1/3 full, but no more than 1/2 full, with Peanut Oil and heat on medium-high for deep frying.

(Use plenty of Oil at a very high heat! Use a wok or large pot. Do not attempt in a skillet. For best results, fry the Chicken in batches to prevent overcrowding and the Oil becoming soupy).

6.) When the Oil is extremely hot and nearly smoking, add the Chicken and fry for about 1 minute, stirring gently, until crispy on the outside. Remove the Chicken with a large slotted spoon or mesh strainer.

7.) Clear the Oil of any scum with a mesh strainer, increase the heat to high, and then re-fry the Chicken in the super-hot oil for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until ultra-crispy. Remove the Chicken from the Oil with a slotted spoon and allow the pieces to rest on a wire rack.

8.) Quickly clean out the wok pouring the hot oil into a large metal bowl or pot. Add about 1/4 cup of Oil back to the wok and heat it on high.

9.) When hot, remove the wok from heat, and add the bowl of Aromatics, stir-frying just a few seconds until fragrant. Immediately add the bowl of Chilies, stir-frying just a few seconds until the fragrance is released.

10.) Add the Chicken back to the wok, return the wok to heat, and stir-fry the Chicken tossing it in the sizzling-fragrant Oil just a few seconds until every piece is coated.

11.) Pull the wok away from heat and add the Seasonings (Shaoxing Rice Wine, Salt, and MSG). Return the wok to heat and stir-fry just a few seconds.

12.) Cut off the heat, splash in the Brightening Oil, and give a final stir before plating the Crispy-Fried Chicken in a heated clay pot. Serve with individual bowls of rice.

 

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