Chili crisp spicy chicken
Chinese Cooking Demystified · ♥ 10.6K likes · 209.7K views · 13 min video
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 200 g spicy red dried chili
Slice the dried chilies on a bias into one inch sections.
Shake out some of the seeds with a spider, then soak the chilies in hot boiled water about half an hour.
- ¾ cup sesame seeds
- 6 tbsp flour
- 6 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
Mix sesame seeds, flour, cornstarch, salt and chicken bouillon powder in a separate bowl.
Stuffing the chilies with sesame coating
Toss the drained chilies in the mix, pulling from the bottom up with a twisting motion for about four minutes until most of the filling is gone.
- oil
Heat a wok of oil to 130C, drop the chilies in and fry at around 90C over a medium flame.
Fry until the oil climbs back past 100C, about 20 minutes, then let it reach 130C again, about three more minutes.
Remove and drain, jiggle off excess sesame, reserve it, and spread the chilies on a paper towel lined plate.
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp Sichuan pepper
- ½ tsp fennel seed
Pound garlic, ginger and salt to a paste in a mortar, then crack the Sichuan pepper and fennel seed into it.
- ¼ cup hot boiled water
Top with hot boiled water, leave to cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes, then strain and squeeze out the juice.
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp white pepper powder
- ½ tsp Sichuan pepper powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
Mix the strained juice with Shaoxing wine, chicken bouillon powder, soy sauce, white pepper, Sichuan pepper powder and garlic powder, and work into the chicken for one to two minutes until absorbed.
Heat the chili frying oil to about 150C over a high flame and add the chicken; the oil will dip below 100C.
Fry about 20 minutes until the oil clears and climbs past 100C, then two more minutes until it reaches 130C and the chicken is obviously hard; drain and set aside.
- 3 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn
- 2 tsp fennel seed
Toast Sichuan peppercorn and fennel seed over a medium-low flame about three minutes until the oil just begins to show, then grind to a fine powder.
Heat the wok piping hot, shut off the heat and add the chili frying oil.
- ⅓ cup chili frying oil
- 5 g Sichuan millet chili
Over a low flame fry the millet chili until crispy, then toss it in with the chili crisps.
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ inch ginger
- 1 whole scallion
- 8 whole fresh bird's eye chili (optional)
On low, fry garlic, ginger, scallion white and bird's eye chili in the oil about two minutes until just golden.
- ½ tbsp Sichuan pepper
- 2 tbsp red fragrant chili powder
Add Sichuan pepper and let it get fragrant, then stir in the red fragrant chili powder to colour the oil.
Add the chicken, raise to high, swirl in baijiu or Shaoxing wine, add the chili chips and briefly stir fry.
- baijiu
- 1 tsp dark Chinese vinegar
Add the dark Chinese vinegar, mix, and drop the flame to low.
- MSG
- ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1½ tbsp Sichuan pepper oil
Season with the ground spice mix and the seasoning, then drizzle in toasted sesame oil and Sichuan pepper oil and turn out.