Learn how to make crispy, hot and numbing chongqing style dry-fried chicken with dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorn.

First of all: Do not eat the peppers. 

Chongqing Mala Chicken usually refers to Chongqing chicken with chili peppers  the spicy taste) and Sichuan peppercorns (numb feeling ). In Chinese, we call the dish La-zi-ji, which mainly mean dried chili pepper chicken. Some restaurants may call it Chongqing Chicken since it is thought to be quite popular in Geleshan (歌乐山) area in the city of Chongqing. Although this one is less famous outside Sichuan, it is considered even better than Kung Pao chicken for many Szechuan people.

There is a lovely description of the dish saying that you need to find chicken among chili peppers, which show people’s love toward those savory chicken cubes and also how many chili peppers will be used in this dish. That’s 100% true in restaurant versions. For homemade mala chicken, I adjust the amount of the chili peppers so that we do not need to work so hard to finding the meat. It gets another lovely name in my family called “mangrove forest”.
In general, this dish is a dry fried dish. Higher oil temperature helps to remove the extra water content inside the chicken, which further allow the mala flavor permeating better. This is a very popular Sichuan style cooking method and there are a group of dishes share the same theory including dry-fried beef shreds and dry-fried green beans with minced pork.

 About the ingredient: chicken

We usually use chicken thigh for this dish because of the higher muscle content. Chicken breast is not recommended. We cook this with bones. So it is ok to cut the thighs into small bites directly. But it is also quite caring to remove the bones for your guest.

How to remove the bones of a chicken thigh:

1. Prepare a kitchen scissor, find the loose side of the chicken thigh, and cut it apart.
2. Then cut all the other connections on the bottom of the chicken thigh.
3. Hold the thigh with one hand and then push all the meat down. And then use scissor to cut the left meat on the bone.

Some tips for controlling the spicy taste:

1. Cut only part of the dried peppers into sections and keep the remaining as whole ones. Or you can use milder peppers directly
   Remove the seeds after cutting the dried peppers apart
2. Soak the peppers with water and then fry over slow fire for a short time can greatly reduce the raw spiciness and improve the aroma.

Can I reduce the amount of dried chili peppers used?

Absolutely yes! I am reproducing the authentic Chongqing style mala chicken, so a large amount of peppers are needed. You can reduce the hot peppers and use only 15 to 20 dried peppers.  Reducing the amount of chili peppers will not influence the taste very much, but can save lots of money if dried peppers are quite expensive.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• cook oil for frying
• 1 and 1/2 cup of chili peppers
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp. Sichuan peppercorn
• 1 root ginger, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 scallions, white part and green part separated andcut into small sections
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. sesame seeds, or as needed
• pinch of salt

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. rice wine
• ¼ tsp. white pepper powder
• 2 tsp. cornstarch (optional)
• small pinch of salt

Steps

Cut the dried chili peppers and then soak the peppers in water for 15 minutes. We are doing this so we can fry the peppers later and prevent burn the peppers.

Remove the bone of the chicken thighs and then cut into small cubes. In a large bowl, marinade the chicken cubes with all the marinating sauce. Mix well and set aside for around 10 minutes.

Heat up oil in wok or pan for deep-frying. Heat until really hot (you can see bubbles when you put a chopstick in). Add the chicken cubes in and fry until golden brown.  Transfer out. I recommend using a pan and fry the chicken by batches. On one side, it uses less oil and on the other side, the chicken is widely touched with the bottom of the pan, which can speed up the process greatly. After add the chicken cubes, let it stay for a short time (possible about 40 seconds to 1 minute) until one side is browed and then slightly stir the chicken and fry the other side.

Get a clean wok and add only 1/2 tablespoon of oil and then fry the peppers for 1-2 minutes over slowest fire until most of them becomes dark red. Add Sichuan peppercorn in and continue frying for another 1 minute over slowest fire.

Push the spices to one side and add 1/2 tablespoon of oil in wok and fry ginger, scallion white and garlic until aromatic.

Return the chicken cubes, add roasted white sesame seeds, sugar, salt and scallion green sections. Mix well and serve immediately.

Other yummy Chinese chicken recipes

• Kung pao chicken
• Mouthwatering chicken— a famous spicy chicken in spicy broth
• Cantonese roasted chicken–marinated with soy sauce and produce paper-thin skins.
• Chinese braised chicken with soy sauce — this is a very popular way to cook chicken among Chinese. And I add the baking step to improve the flavor and aroma to the next level.

5 from 19 votes

Print

Mala Chicken

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

17 mins

Total Time

37 mins

 

Authentic Szechuan Chicken recipe—Mala Chicken

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 2

Calories: 499 kcal

Author: Elaine

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• cook oil for frying
• 1.5 cup chili peppers
• 1.5 tbsp. Sichuan peppercorn
• 1 root ginger ,sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 scallions ,white part and green part separated andcut into small sections
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. sesame seeds ,or as needed
• pinch of salt

Marinating

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. rice wine
• ¼ tsp. white pepper powder
• 2 tsp. cornstarch ,optional
• small pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Cut the dried chili peppers, discard the seeds and then soak the peppers in water for 15 minutes. We are doing this so we can fry the peppers later and prevent burn the peppers.
2. Remove the bone of the chicken thighs and then cut into small cubes. In a large bowl, marinade the chicken cubes with all the marinating sauce. Mix well and set aside for around 10 minutes.
3. Heat up oil in wok or pan for deep-frying. Heat until really hot (you can see bubbles when you put a chopstick in). Add the chicken cubes in and fry until golden brown. Transfer out. I recommend using a pan and fry the chicken by batches. On one side, it uses less oil and on the other side, the chicken is widely touched with the bottom of the pan, which can speed up the process greatly. After add the chicken cubes, let it stay for a short time (possible about 40 seconds to 1 minute) until one side is browed and then slightly stir the chicken and fry the other side.
4. Get a clean wok and add only 1/2 tablespoon of oil and then fry the peppers for 1-2 minutes over slowest fire until most of them becomes dark red. Add Sichuan peppercorn in and continue frying for another 1 minute over slowest fire.
5. Push the spices to one side and add 1/2 tablespoon of oil in wok and fry ginger, scallion white and garlic until aromatic.
6. Return the chicken cubes, add roasted white sesame seeds, sugar, salt and scallion green sections. Mix well and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

The cornstarch used to marinade chicken can separate water and oil. So the chicken meat will be tender and simultaneously it can reduce the oil absorbed by chicken during deep-frying process.

Recipe is firstly published in 2013 and updated with new details and pictures in 2017

Nutrition Facts

Mala Chicken

Amount Per Serving

Calories 499 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Fat 29g45%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Cholesterol 98mg33%

Sodium 520mg23%

Potassium 926mg26%

Carbohydrates 38g13%

Fiber 11g46%

Sugar 14g16%

Protein 22g44%

Vitamin A 7540IU151%

Vitamin C 10.9mg13%

Calcium 149mg15%

Iron 4.7mg26%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.