Chongqing Dry Chili Chicken

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Small bone-in chicken pieces marinated in Shaoxing wine and soy, fried twice until the edges shatter, then tossed in a wok with a mountain of dried red chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and scallion. The chilies are there to perfume the oil and the chicken — you eat around most of them. It's crunchy, numbing, fragrant and almost sauceless, the way it's served in Chongqing.

Ingredients

• 2 lb bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (or 1 small chicken, hacked into 1-inch pieces)
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 2 cups dried red chilies, preferably Sichuan facing-heaven or Tianjin (about 2 oz)
• 1 tbsp whole red Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tsp whole green Sichuan peppercorns (optional, for extra numbing)
• 8 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
• 1 inch piece ginger, thinly sliced
• 6 scallions, white parts cut into 1-inch batons, greens thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp Sichuan chili bean paste (doubanjiang), optional

• 5 cups neutral oil for frying (peanut or canola)
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Steamed white rice, for serving

• 1 tsp red Sichuan peppercorns, for grinding

Instructions

1. Butcher the chicken small: with a heavy cleaver or sturdy chef's knife, cut each thigh (bone and all) crosswise into 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks. Small pieces are the whole point — they give you maximum crisp edge per bite. If you're not comfortable cutting through bone, use 2 lb boneless skin-on thighs cut into 1 1/4-inch cubes.
2. Marinate: in a bowl, toss the chicken with the Shaoxing wine, light soy, dark soy, salt, grated ginger and white pepper. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes (up to 4 hours). Meanwhile, toast 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns in a dry skillet over medium heat for 60–90 seconds until fragrant, then grind to a powder and set aside for finishing.
3. Prep the chilies: snip the dried chilies in half with scissors and shake out most of the seeds (seeds scorch and turn bitter). Do not soak them — this dish is dry-fried. Set the chilies, whole peppercorns, garlic, ginger and scallion whites in one bowl near the stove; once frying starts, everything moves fast.
4. Dredge: drain off any pooled marinade. Sprinkle the cornstarch and flour over the chicken and toss with your hands until every piece wears a thin, slightly pasty coat. Let it sit 10 minutes so the coating hydrates and clings.
5. Heat 5 cups oil in a wok or 4-quart Dutch oven to 325°F. Fry the chicken in 3 batches, 4–5 minutes per batch, turning occasionally, until pale gold and cooked through (165°F at the bone). Don't crowd the pot — keep the oil above 300°F. Drain on a rack.
6. Second fry for crunch: raise the oil to 375°F. Return all the chicken at once and fry 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until deep golden and audibly crisp. Drain on the rack. Carefully pour off the frying oil, reserving 1/4 cup, and wipe the wok.
7. Bloom the chilies: set the wok over medium-low heat with the reserved 1/4 cup oil. Add the whole Sichuan peppercorns and stir 20 seconds, then add all the dried chilies. Stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes — you want them darkened to a deep brick red and intensely fragrant, but not blackened. Keep the heat moderate; scorched chilies taste acrid. Turn on your hood fan or crack a window.
8. Add the garlic, sliced ginger and scallion whites (and the doubanjiang, if using) and stir-fry 45 seconds, until the garlic is golden at the edges.
9. Raise the heat to high, add the fried chicken back to the wok along with the sugar, and toss vigorously for 60 to 90 seconds so the chili oil coats every piece. There should be no sauce — just glossy, chili-flecked chicken.
10. Kill the heat. Add the ground toasted Sichuan pepper, sesame seeds, sesame oil and scallion greens and toss twice. Pile onto a platter and serve immediately with steamed rice.
11. At the table, tell people the truth about the chilies: they're aromatics, like bay leaves. Hunting the chicken out of the chili pile is part of the fun — nibble a chili if you're curious, but they're not meant to be eaten by the handful.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

One-Pot Chicken Creole

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem