Sichuan chicken

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This Sichuan chicken is a quick, moreish dish that’s surprisingly easy to cook at home — ideal for a midweek dinner when you want something bold without the fuss and it’s become a firm favourite.

Sichuan chicken is all about big flavour: fragrant spices, tingling heat, and that perfect balance of savoury, spicy and slightly sweet. This version brings all those classic flavours together in a simple, vibrant and incredibly satisfying way.

Serving Suggestions for Sichuan Chicken

  • Plain basmati rice or steamed jasmine rice — the essential base to soak up the sauce
  • Garlic fried rice for something more aromatic
  • Stir‑fried greens — pak choi, choy sum, or gai lan with garlic
  • Cucumber salad with chilli oil, sesame, and black vinegar
  • Smashed cucumber with soy, garlic, and a touch of sugar
  • Simple steamed broccoli with sesame oil
  • Green beans — dry‑fried Sichuan‑style or simply sautéed
  • Pickled vegetables (carrot, daikon, cucumber) for cooling acidity
  • Plain or sesame noodles tossed with soy and spring onions
  • Hot‑and‑sour soup for a classic Sichuan pairing
  • Chinese leaf salad with a sharp, tangy dressing
  • Steamed bao buns to mop up the sauce
  • Spring onion pancakes for crisp, savoury balance
  • Chilli‑oil fried eggs if you want to bulk out the meal
  • Prawn crackers – for extra crunch
  • Extra chilli crisp or Sichuan pepper oil on the side
Sichuan chicken

Sichuan chicken

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Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dinner
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

Sichuan spicy sauce

  • 50 ml cold water
  • 1 tsp chilli bean paste (brought from a local chinese supermarket)
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • ½ tsp soft brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Remaining ingredients

  • 2 chicken thighs or breasts, sliced thinly
  • pinch of sea salt
  • pinch of ground white pepper
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2½ cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely crated
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp dry sherry or shaoxing rice wine
  • 1 tbsp cold water

Other suggestions

  • Add sliced courgettes, peppers, onions or carrots
  • Additional 1 tbsp cold water

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together all the ingredients for the Sichuan spicy sauce in a bowl, then set aside.
  • In another bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper and then dust with cornflour.  Mix to coat well, then set aside.
  • Heat a frying pan or wok over a high heat, add the rapeseed oil.  Add the garlic, ginger and red chilli and toss for a few seconds to release their flavours, but don’t let them burn.  Add the chicken and fry until they start to turn brown, add the sherry or shaoxing wine for 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Add the cold water to create some steam.  If using additional vegetables, add them now with another 1 tbsp. of cold water, this will help to cook the vegetables.
  • Pour in the sauce and fry until the vegetable are cooked to your liking and the sauce has thickened.  Serve immediately with rice and enjoy….