Szechuan Chicken

This Szechuan Chicken recipe is like the delicious classic you’re looking for, but is super-quick, making it perfect for your stir-fry night!

What is Szechuan Chicken?

Szechuan Chicken is a stir fried dish that originated in the Szechuan province of China. (You may also see Sichuan as the spelling in some places, it’s referring to the same province and dish.) It’s spicy with a very unique ingredient (Szechuan peppercorns!). These peppercorns create a tingling feeling and slight numbness in the mouth that is said to allow you to taste the different flavors of the chilis, rather than just the effects of the spiciness.

Don’t let the thought of all that heat scare you away though! It’s absolutely delicious and you can moderate the spice to your level of comfort by decreasing or increasing the number of chilis.

What Are Szechuan Peppercorns?

So, Szechuan Peppercorns aren’t actually peppercorns, nor are they even related to peppers. They’re the berries of the prickly ash pear which is native to the Szechuan province of China.

They have a unique flavor that’s slightly citrusy with a hint of pine. They’re famous for their mouth numbing effect which is a counterpoint to the heat produced by chilis. By numbing a bit of the heat, you’re able to taste more of the other flavors flavors present in the chilis. So intriguing, right? If your store doesn’t sell Szechuan Peppercorns, you can get them on Amazon here.

Tip: If you’re not able to find Szechuan Peppercorns, you can replace them with a combination of black pepper, coriander seeds, and lemon zest. Mix 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. This won’t give you the numbing affect, but you will get the citrusy, peppery flavor.

Tips For Perfect Stir-Frying

The most important thing about making any stir fry is to have everything prepped prior to starting to cook. Just like with our Lamb Stir Fry recipe, the cooking times are quick and don’t leave a lot of time in between processes to chop, combine, or stir.

While prepping your ingredients, it’s also a good idea to arrange them on a plate or a baking sheet in the order that they are used in the recipe. This not only gives you a visual tool to ensure that you have all of your ingredients, it also makes it very easy to recall the order that the ingredients are added to the skillet.

When I first learned how to make Szechuan Chicken stir fry, one of things I found interesting is that you cut each of the ingredients in the same fashion. So, if you cut the chicken in cubes, you also cut the vegetables in cubes. If you cut the chicken in strips, you cut the veggies in strips. For this recipe, I like chunks of chicken. Which means the onion and red pepper are cut into a similar shapes as well.

Prepping The Ingredients

Like any recipe, there are several ways to create this dish. My favorite way is to coat the chicken in cornstarch and then fry it in hot oil. I also like to keep the vegetables very simple and opt for red peppers to carry that red theme through the dish. If you prefer green bell peppers or another color, you can use any of those or a combination.

The number of chilis that are used can be tailored to your taste. I like to start with 15 dried red chili peppers, because my tendencies are on the spicier side. I soak them for 15 minutes in hot water to help release more flavor. Be careful not to soak too long as the chilis will start to get bitter.  If you don’t have access to the dried chilis, you can use red pepper flakes for heat, but you can purchase dried red chili peppers online.

NOTE: I do like to warn my family and friends not to eat the dried chilis unless they really LOVE a big hit of spice. They’re in the dish for cooking and then you remove them before eating. You can also remove the seeds to better control the spice levels.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a medium bowl – soy sauce, chili garlic sauce (like this one), rice wine, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch – and stir until the sugar is dissolved. You will need to stir again just before adding it to the skillet. As the sauce sits, the cornstarch settles out of suspension, so it’s important to stir again just before pouring it over the chicken and vegetable mixture. Set that aside for now.

Coat the chicken pieces with plain cornstarch (not the cornstarch you mixed with other ingredients). Using a large resealable plastic bag makes this process quick and pretty mess-free but you can also use a mixing bowl. Shake the bag with cornstarch and chicken, turning over a couple of times to ensure that all of the chicken is coated evenly.

How To Cook The Chicken

When frying the chicken, you’ll likely have to work in batches. I usually do three batches when I’m making this dish. It’s important not to crowd the pan so that the chicken cooks evenly and quickly. Also, allow the oil to come back up to 350˚F in between batches.

After the chicken has been fried and transferred to a paper-towel-lined plate or baking sheet, discard the frying oil being very careful to avoid burns. I use a mesh strainer specifically designed to filter out bits of coating and food so that I can reuse my frying oil.

Note that if you don’t want to fry your chicken in all that oil, you can just put a tablespoon or two of oil in a skillet and pan-fry it instead. It won’t get as light and crisp, but it’s still very tasty.

Stir-Frying The Veggies

After that is where the stir-frying actually starts. Return the skillet to the stove-top and heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering. Add the onions and stir fry until they just start to soften, 1 – 2 minutes max. Then add the red peppers and stir fry until they just start to soften. This shouldn’t take any longer than 3 – 4 minutes total. The most important thing to remember when stir-frying is that the vegetables are not cooked completely through. There should be a nice crunch left once the dish is completed.

The aromatics – the chilis, Szechuan peppercorns, garlic, and ginger – go in next and are cooked until they just start to become fragrant, about 1 – 2 minutes. Be careful, the capsaicin from the chilis starts to waft into the air and it can get a little spicy.

Add the cooked chicken, pour over the spicy sauce, stir until everything is coated, and then call everyone in for dinner. This dish can be served over rice or rice noodles. 

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