Kung Pao Chicken (No Deep-Frying)
Sichuan's famous sweet, sour, salty and tingly chicken — pan-fried, not deep-fried, with peanuts for crunch.
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Laziji Chicken with Chillies
Crisp twice-fried chicken cubes buried in dried chillies and Sichuan pepper — the Sichuan game of hunting for chicken among the chillies. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 辣子鸡, report 7.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 辣子鸡_7.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 10 minutesTotal: 30 minutesServings: 2–3Difficulty: MediumRegion: SichuanFlavour: Hula (scorched chilli and pepper)
Why this works
This dish is a study in two heats. First the chicken is fried twice: once at 180 °C to set the starch coating and cook it through, then briefly at 200 °C to drive off surface moisture and make it crisp. Skip the second fry and the coating softens the moment it meets the wok. Then the heat drops right down, because the dried chillies and red Sichuan pepper must be coaxed slowly on low heat until they darken and smell scorched-sweet, not burnt-bitter — a line crossed in seconds if the pan is too hot. The chicken then joins for only twenty seconds of high-heat tossing with salt, sugar and sesame, just long enough to pick up the chilli fragrance. It is deliberately mostly chilli by volume: diners pick the chicken out, and the chillies season everything they touch. Serve it on a wide platter so diners can pick freely, with plain rice to cool the palate between bites.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boneless chicken thigh, cut into 2 cm cubes | 12.3 oz | 350 g | Thigh stays juicy; breast dries out in the double fry (adaptation). |
| Dried chillies, cut into 2 cm segments, deseeded | 2.8 oz | 80 g | Erjingtiao or similar; deseeding reduces bitterness. |
| Red Sichuan peppercorns | 0.35 oz | 10 g | — |
| Ginger, sliced | 0.5 oz | 15 g | — |
| Garlic, crushed | 0.35 oz | 10 g | — |
| Cooking wine (marinade) | 1 tbsp | 15 ml | Shaoxing wine. |
| Light soy sauce (marinade) | 2 tsp | 10 ml | — |
| White pepper (marinade) | Pinch | 1 g | — |
| Corn starch (marinade) | 4 tsp | 20 g | — |
| Salt | ½ tsp | 3 g | — |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | 5 g | — |
| Toasted white sesame seeds | 1 tsp | 5 g | — |
| Neutral oil for deep-frying | 2 cups | 500 ml | Report quantity; the oil can be strained and reused 2–3 times, as the report notes — do not discard after one use. Plus about 30 ml retained for stir-frying. |
Equipment
- Wok or deep, heavy pot for frying — a wok helps here but a deep pot works (adaptation)
- Slotted spoon or spider strainer
- Thermometer (helpful for 180 °C and 200 °C)
Steps
- Marinate the chicken. Cut the thigh meat into 2 cm cubes. Toss with cooking wine, light soy sauce, white pepper and corn starch and marinate for 15 minutes. Cut the dried chillies into 2 cm segments and remove the seeds.
- Fry twice. Heat the oil to 180 °C (a chopstick inserted bubbles densely). Fry the chicken on medium heat for 4 minutes until golden and set; remove. Raise the oil to 200 °C and fry again for 30 seconds until crisp. Drain well. The chicken centre must reach at least 75 °C / 167 °F.
- Bloom the chillies on low heat. Leave about 30 ml oil in the wok. Fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then turn to low heat and add the dried chillies and Sichuan pepper. Stir slowly for about 1 minute until the chillies turn dark red and smell scorched-sweet. Keep the heat low throughout — scorched chilli turns bitter.
- Toss and season. Turn to high heat, add the fried chicken and toss for 20 seconds. Add salt and sugar, scatter the toasted sesame, toss once more and serve immediately.
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Technique: low heat for the chillies, high heat for everything else
The chillies are the trap: fried on high heat they blacken and turn the whole dish bitter, so they get a full minute on low heat while the chicken waits. The chicken, by contrast, wants the hottest possible finish — twenty seconds, no more — so the crisp coating survives contact with the wok. Check dried chillies for mould before use and rinse and dry them quickly if dusty, as the report advises.
Variations
- Milder: halve the dried chillies and pepper; the dish becomes a crisp seasoned chicken rather than a chilli hunt (adaptation).
- Extra crunch: toss in a handful of roasted peanuts at the end with the sesame (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why is there so much chilli?
That is the point: the dish is traditionally served as a mound of chillies with chicken hidden inside, and diners pick the chicken out.
Why did my chillies taste bitter?
They were fried too hot or too long. Keep the heat low and stop as soon as they darken and smell fragrant.
Can I air-fry the chicken?
You can, but the coating will be drier and less crisp than the double fry; toss the cubes in a little extra oil first (adaptation).
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh; the coating softens within hours. Leftovers keep 1 day refrigerated; re-crisp in a hot oven or air fryer until steaming hot. Not recommended for freezing.
Laziji Chicken with Chillies — Recipe Card
Crisp twice-fried chicken cubes tossed with dried chillies and Sichuan pepper.
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 10 minutesTotal: 30 minutesServings: 2–3
Ingredients: 350 g boneless chicken thigh; 80 g dried chillies; 10 g Sichuan pepper; 15 g ginger; 10 g garlic; marinade: 15 ml cooking wine, 10 ml soy sauce, 1 g white pepper, 20 g corn starch; 3 g salt; 5 g sugar; 5 g sesame; 500 ml frying oil (reusable).
Steps: 1) Marinate chicken 15 minutes. 2) Fry 180 °C 4 minutes, then 200 °C 30 seconds. 3) Bloom chillies and pepper on low heat ~1 minute. 4) Toss chicken on high heat 20 seconds, season with salt, sugar and sesame.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 辣子鸡 (data/reports/7.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The thigh-meat note and the 2–3 serving presentation are adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (辣子鸡_7.jpeg).