Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes

Tudou Shao Ji (土豆烧鸡)

Wonderful bites of chicken are stewed with chunks of potato in a delicious aromatic sauce made from classic Chinese seasonings, alcohol, and pickled red chilies.

This is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes, and it’s easy to see why. The Chicken and Potatoes are tender, the sauce is extremely flavorful, and the aroma is tantalizing. Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes combines restaurant-level flavors with a straightforward home style recipe.

Traditionally, Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes is made with half of an entire chicken and occasionally with a whole chicken. However, you could make this dish with just a few chicken legs (obviously whole chicken legs with thighs and drumsticks). The chicken must be bone-in and not boneless, as the bones are integral to the cooking process and to a certain extent the flavor. The cooking process requires soaking the chicken and then boiling it. These integral steps purify the flavor of the meat by removing blood, bone marrow, and other unwanted flavors. Doing so, the chicken will be primed for absorbing the amazing flavor from the stewing sauce.

Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes can be found at most restaurants in Sichuan and throughout China, but it is also a popular home style dish. This means Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes can be made with numerous optional flavors. For instance, you can add green chilies, green bell pepper, garlic sprouts, and even mushrooms. You can tweak the flavor by using regular ginger, pickled ginger, young ginger, or a combination of all of these. When I had this dish in Leshan, it was actually a bit sweeter than the following recipe. You can make it this way too by simply adding an extra 1/2 Tablespoon of White Sugar. For more of a home style version, simply use the following recipe as a guide and add ingredients you have available – so long as they pair well with the other flavors.

For more information on Stewed Dishes, check out the following link: The Ultimate Guide to Red Braised and Stewed Dishes.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Total Time: 1 hr 5 min

Serving: 2 - 4 people

Ingredients

1/2 of a Chicken

Boiling Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Shaoxing Rice Wine
2 4-inch-long white stalks of Big Scallion
1 2-inch block of Ginger
1 tsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns

2 Potatoes (about 500 grams)

Aromatics
5 – 10 Pickled Red Chilies
4 cloves of Garlic (about 15 grams)
1 2-inch block of Ginger (about 15 grams)

Spices
5 Dried Red Chilies
1 Star Anise
1 Bay Leaf
1 2-inch stick of Cassia Bark/ Cinnamon
1 tsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns

Additional Flavors (All are Optional; Choose 1 or 2)
1 stalk of Garlic Sprouts
5 long Green Chilies
4-inch block of Young Ginger (仔姜)

Garnishes
1 small bunch of Cilantro
1 green stalk of Small Scallion (小葱)

Soup Ingredients
1/4 cup Peanut Oil OR 1/8 cup Peanut Oil and 1/8 cup Lard
1 1/2 Tbsp. Sichuan Chili Bean Paste
1 can of Beer (500ml) OR 2 3/4 cup of Water mixed with 1/4 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine

Seasonings
1 Tbsp. Light Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. White Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp. Ground White Pepper

Brightening Oil
1/2 tsp. Scallion Oil OR Sichuan Pepper Oil

Directions

1.) Prepare the Chicken and set the pieces aside in a bowl of water to rest for 10 minutes after being cut:

• Wash off the Chicken, place it on a cutting board, and separate the leg from the body at the thigh and the wing from the body at the shoulder.
• Starting with the leg, cut across the thigh chopping the Chicken into roughly 1 1/2-inch-thick strips and continue all the way down the length of the leg stopping at the foot.
• Rotate the strips and chop them into 1 1/2-inch cubes, before setting the cubes aside in a bowl.
• Repeat with upper body of the Chicken, chopping it first into 1 1/2-inch strips and then into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Set these cubes aside with the leg meat.
• Separate the upper arm, the middle wing, and the wing tip, placing these with rest of the Chicken.
• Fill the bowl with Chicken pieces with water, drain, fill with water again, and allow the pieces to rest for 10 minutes in the water.

2.) Par-boil the Chicken:

• Drain the Chicken and rinse the pieces thoroughly to remove any unwanted materials.
• Add the chunks of Chicken to a pot, fill the pot with water, and add the Boiling Ingredients (Rice Wine, Scallion, Ginger, and Sichuan Peppercorns).
• Bring the water to a boil and as the water heats, skim away any scum that rises to the surface.
• Once the water reaches a full boil, cut off the heat, drain the water, rinse off the Chicken pieces and set them aside to drip dry.

3.) Peel the Potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and then cut each of the halves in half lengthwise to create four long strips from each Potato. Cut across these strips to create roughly 1 1/2-inch cubes. Set the chunks of Potato aside in a bowl.

4.) Prepare the Aromatics placing them into the same bowl:

• Cut the Pickled Red Chilies into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Peel and slice the Garlic.
• Peel and slice the Ginger.

5.) Prepare the Spices placing them into the same bowl (and optionally the same bowl as the Aromatics):

• Snip the Dried Red Chilies into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Add the Star Anise, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon, and Sichuan Peppercorns to the bowl.

6.) Optionally, prepare any Additional Flavors (i.e., cut Garlic Sprouts into 4-inch-long pieces; cut Green Chilies into 1/2-inch pieces; slice Young Ginger and then julienne the slices into fine slivers).

(No Additional Flavors are needed. These are simply ways to customize your dish, and these ingredients are commonly added to home style versions of this dish).

7.) Prepare the Garnishes by roughly chopping the Cilantro and slicing the Scallion. Set these aside on a plate to be used as a Garnish.

8.) Add 1/4 cup of Peanut Oil to a seasoned wok and heat on medium-high. When hot, add the Chicken pieces and stir-fry until all water has evaporated from the Chicken.

(If the Chicken has been draining while preparing the other ingredients, it shouldn’t have too much water and the Oil won’t become soupy. The purpose is to concentrate the flavor within the Chicken).

9.) With most of the water gone, add the Aromatics and Spices, stir-frying them with the Chicken just a few seconds until fully mixed.

10.) Pull the wok away from heat and add the Chili Bean Paste. Mix with the Chicken briefly and then return the wok to heat, mixing it with the Chicken thoroughly.

11.) Add one can of Beer along with the Seasonings (Soy Sauce, Sugar, Salt, and White Pepper). Bring everything to a boil, cover with a lid, and cook at a low boil for about 15 minutes.

12.) Uncover the wok, stir the Chicken, and add the Potatoes. Cover the wok again and continue to cook at a low boil for about 15 minutes. Uncover the wok and cook another 10 to 15 minutes until the Potatoes are soft and the sauce has reduced considerably.

(If you would like to make this dish slightly faster, you can precook the Potatoes by boiling them until semi-soft, but still a little firm. Then you only need to cook the Potatoes with the Chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes uncovered until the sauce has reduced. The longer cooking time, however, ensures the Potatoes are more flavorful).

13.) Optionally, add any Additional Flavors, and cook for another minute or two until the sauce has reduced to your preferred level.

(The sauce should not reduce fully and there should be plenty of sauce still in the wok. Nevertheless, the dish shouldn’t be overly soupy. The dish could also be transferred to a heated clay pot and finished over a flame at the table).

14.) Add a splash of Brightening Oil (Scallion Oil for Aromatic Flavor 香味 or Sichuan Pepper Oil for Sizzling Flavor 麻味), mix one more time, and then pour the Spicy Stewed Chicken and Potatoes into a serving dish such as a large bowl or heated clay pot. Garnish this dish with plenty of Cilantro and optionally Scallion before serving.

 

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