Wok-Fried Chicken

Ganguo Ji (干锅鸡)

Fragrant and spicy with chilies, garlic, ginger, and onions – the crispy fried chunks of chicken are ripping with heat from the breath of the wok.

Wok-Fried Chicken comes from the Chinese meaning Dry-Wok Chicken (干锅鸡). A searing hot wok is used to evaporate moisture from the surface of the Chicken leaving the skin crispy and dry. Obviously, proper wok cooking is the key to this dish. It can be quite challenging to achieve that iconic crispy skin – though even without it, the Chicken is still delicious. Use the following tips to improve the chances of creating incredibly crispy skin:

• Properly season the wok and use plenty of oil.
• A properly seasoned wok will prevent bits of Chicken from sticking to the bottom of the wok and burning.
• To season the wok, add about 1/4 cup of base oil to the wok and heat it on high until smoking while swirling the oil around the sides of the wok using the back of a ladle or large spoon. Pour out the used oil and add a good amount of fresh oil.
• Using plenty of oil will help the wok maintain heat better and fry the skin crispier. The super-hot oil will more quickly evaporate the water and prevent the oil from becoming soupy.
• Use high heat to draw out the ‘Breath of the Wok’(锅气).
• Wok-Fried Chicken is best made with a high-powered wok burner which can blast a consistent heat against the wok.
• Replicating this at home is a bit trickier and requires high heat and a solid wok.
• The wok should be heated until small tendrils of smoke roll off the hot metal. This is called the Breath of the Wok.
• Do not overcrowd the wok.
• Most homestyle woks are smaller than those of a professional kitchen, so they are unable to hold as much content.
• For a smaller wok, fry the Chicken in batches. Fry about half of the Chicken for 4 minutes, remove this batch, and set the cooked Chicken aside. Fry the remaining half of the Chicken for 4 minutes. Return the first batch of Chicken to the wok and fry all of the Chicken together for 1 – 2 minutes until crispy.
• Cut everything into large pieces to prevent burning.
• The Chicken should be in large chunks to better handle the high heat and long cooking time.
• More importantly, the Aromatics should be quite large to avoid burning.
• DO NOT finely mince or grate the Garlic or Ginger. This is commonly done in western cooking, but doesn’t work well with high-heat Chinese cooking.
• Large pieces of Aromatics are easy to eat around and won’t be eaten along with the Chicken.

The following version of Wok-Fried Chicken is pretty standard. However, variations on this dish can be wildly creative. In Chengdu, I even had a delicious version called Wok-Fried Chicken and Frog (牛蛙干锅鸡). The flavors of this Wok-Fried Chicken were the same as in my recipe, but what made it unique were the extra ingredients. The Wok-Fried Chicken was full of Frog Legs as well as slices of Lotus Root and Potato.

Numerous root vegetables, such as Potato and Lotus Root, can easily be cooked with Wok-Fried Chicken. These vegetables, and other ingredients like Frog and Celtuce, simply need to be pre-cooked before stir-frying them with the Chicken. The fastest way is by deep-frying them before cooking the Chicken. Deep-fry the additional ingredients, pour most of the oil out of the wok, and use the remaining oil to season the wok. After the wok is seasoned, the Chicken can be cooked as normal. The additional ingredients would be added back to the wok along with the Green Chilies. Other vegetables like pieces of Bell Pepper can also be added at this time.

Wok-Fried Chicken is often served in a heated dish or a dish that is heated at the table. This can be either a heated claypot or simply a large metal bowl set over a heat source. The heated dish not only keeps the Chicken hot and the skin crispy, but also helps to cook Aromatics and further soften denser vegetables like Potato, Lotus Root, and Celtuce. While Onion is not commonly used in Sichuan cuisine, it is a staple of Wok-Fried Dishes. Thin slivers of Onion are often added as a base layer in the heated serving dish. The heated dish softens the Onions and as the Chicken is mixed at the table, the flavor subtly infuses throughout the dish.

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 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp. White Pepper

1/2 cup of Dried Red Chilies Amount when cut into 1.5-inch pieces; About 5 grams)

Aromatics
8 – 12 Fresh Red Chilies
6 – 10 cloves of Garlic
1 4-inch block of Ginger

6 long Green Chilies (二荆条; About 50 g.)

3 stalks of Garlic Sprouts

1/2 of a Red Onion

Peanut Oil

Sauces
2 tsp. Pickled Chili Sauce Such as Lameizi Brand Chili Sauce 辣妹子食品辣椒酱; OR simply use minced Pickled Chilies; Chili Garlic Sauce is also acceptable but slightly reduce the Garlic in the Aromatics)
2 tsp. Black Beans with Oil Chili Flakes (Such as Lao Gan Ma Flavorful Black Beans 老干妈风味豆豉; This can be made by mixing Fermented Black Beans with Oil Chili Flakes)

Seasonings
1/2 tsp. MSG
1/2 tsp. Cumin Powder
1/4 tsp. Ground White Pepper

Brightening Oil
1 tsp. Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds

Directions

1.) Wash the Chicken thoroughly, making sure to remove any blood, and pat it dry with paper towels.

2.) Using a good cleaver and a thick cutting board, chop the Chicken:

• Cut the talons off the Chicken feet.
• Cut off the Chicken leg at the thigh separating it from the breast.
• Chop the breast into 1.5-inch-thick strips cutting crosswise across the breast.
• Rotate the breast slices and chop them into large 1.5-inch cubes.
• Chop the thigh into 1.5-inch-thick slices, cutting crosswise across the thigh. As you chop, rotate the Chicken slightly once you reach the lower leg to chop it crosswise.
• Chop all the way down the length of the lower leg stopping at the ankle of the foot.
• Rotate the thigh and leg slices and chop them into 1.5-inch cubes.

3.) Place the Chicken in a large bowl and add the Marinade ingredients (Rice Wine, Light Soy Sauce, Dark Soy Sauce, Salt, and White Pepper), mixing everything by hand for 5 minutes. Allow the Chicken to marinate while preparing the other ingredients.

4.) Snip the Dried Red Chilies into 1.5-inch pieces and remove most of their seeds. Set them aside in their own bowl.

(One tablespoon of Green Sichuan Peppercorns can also be added among these Dried Red Chilies to give the dish a sizzling flavor, but it’s optional for this dish).

5.) Prepare the Aromatics, placing them all into the same bowl:

• Cut the Fresh Red Chilies lengthwise on a bias into 1.5-inch-long pieces.
• Peel and cut the Garlic cloves in half.
• Peel and cut the Ginger into 1.5-inch-thick strips. Slice these strips into 1/4-inch-thick squares.

6.) Cut the Green Chilies into 1.5-inch pieces and set them aside in their own bowl. Then cut the Garlic Sprouts into 1.5-inch pieces and set them aside in their own bowl.

7.) Thinly slice the Red Onion into slivers and place them directly into the serving dish – preferably a claypot or metal bowl that can be set over a flame.

8.) Heat a seasoned wok on medium-high heat and add 1/2 cup of Peanut Oil. When hot, add the Chicken and mix it briefly with the Oil. Then, pan-fry the Chicken in the wok for 4 – 6 minutes, swirling the Chicken often and tossing it occasionally.

(If not using a powerful flame, you should heat the wok on high until super-hot before adding the Chicken. This will prevent the Oil from cooling too much when the Chicken is added. All moisture from the surface of the Chicken should be evaporated by the end of this initial pan-frying stage, and the skin should be getting crispy and fragrant).

9.) Pull the wok away from heat and add the Aromatics. Return the wok to heat and stir-fry everything for about 30 seconds until extremely fragrant. Then, add the Dried Red Chilies and stir-fry everything for about 15 seconds more.

10.) Pull the wok away from heat and add the Sauces (Lameizi and Lao-Gan-Ma Douchi). Return the wok to heat and stir-fry everything vigorously for 30 seconds.

11.) Pull the wok away from heat and add the Seasonings (MSG, Cumin, and White Pepper) along with the Brightening Oil and Green Chilies. Return the wok to heat and stir-fry everything vigorously just until the scent of the Green Chilies is noticeable.

13.) Ladle the crispy Wok-Fried Chicken into the serving dish on top of the Onions. Briefly set the serving dish over a super-hot flame before serving. The dish can optionally be garnished with a few sprigs of Cilantro or a sprinkling of finely sliced Scallion.

 

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