• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

China Sichuan Food

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Index
  • Sichuan
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Index
    • Sichuan
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Pantry

    Sha Cha Chicken

    Last Modified: November 8, 2018 by Elaine| 7 Comments

    365 shares
    • Share on Facebook
    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    This is the newly tested Sha cha chicken or more accurately braised chicken with Sha Cha sauce. Beside sha cha chicken, sha cha beef is another representative.

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    What’s Sha Cha Sauce

    Sha cha sauce (沙茶酱) is a combined sauce from ChaoZhou area in Guangdong, China. With a savory and a slightly spicy taste, it has been widely used in Fujian cusine, Teochew cuisine and Taiwan area.

    My first meating with Sha Cha sauce is on a Teochew beef hot pot table. I love the taste of sha cha sauce with tender beef slices. After tried with different restaurants, I find that they have their unique Sha Cha sauce recipes and flavors. In general, Sha Cha sauce is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, brill fish and dried shrimp. But different portions create slightly different flavors. I believe Szechuan style chili oil shares the same features. Returning home, I am always trying to find the best Sha cha product. Among all the brands, Bull head from Taiwan wins my heart and has been stored in my kitchen cabinet around the year.

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    Comparing with sha cha beef, I add more juice in this sha cha chicken and make it even better for steamed rice or other plain staple food.

    Cook’s Note

    Sha cha sauce is quite salty itself, so I do not list salt in the recipe. You can taste it before the last transformation and see whether a tiny pinch of salt is needed.

    Ingredients

    • 2 boneless chicken legs or 1 chicken breast, cut into thin slices
    • coriander as needed
    • 2 tbsp. cooking oil

    Marinating

    • 1 tsp. soy sauce
    • 1 tsp. cooking wine
    • 2 tsp. cornstarch
    • 2 tsp. water

    Stir frying

    • ¼ red onion
    • 2 green peppers (both bell and spicy pepper work fine)
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 and ½ tbsp. sha cha sauce
    • ½ cup stock or water

    Instruction

    Slice chicken and then marinating with soy sauce, cooking wine and water starch. Set aside for around 15 minutes.

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    Heat your cook firstly, then around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a non-stick pan or wok. Place chicken in when the oil is warm but not hot. Let the chicken stay for 3-5 seconds and gently stir fry the chicken until the the chicken slices turns pale. Transfer out.

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    Leave some oil in and fry garlic until aromatic. Place sha cha sauce in and add water. Bring everything to a boiling and then place chicken, chili peppers and red onion. Simmer for 1 minute and serve with steamed rice.

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    Sha Cha Chicken

    Elaine
    Braised Chicken with Chinese Sha Cha Sauce
    3 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 25 mins
    Total Time 35 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Cantonese cuisine
    Servings 3
    Calories 310 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 boneless chicken legs or 1 chicken breast , cut into thin slices
    • coriander as needed
    • 2 tbsp. cooking oil

    Marinating

    • 1 tsp. soy sauce
    • 1 tsp. cooking wine
    • 2 tsp. cornstarch
    • 2 tsp. water

    Stri frying

    • ¼ red onion
    • 2 green peppers , both bell and spicy pepper work fine
    • 2 garlic cloves , minced
    • 1.5 tbsp. sha cha sauce
    • ½ cup stock or water

    Instructions
     

    • Slice chicken and then marinating with soy sauce, cooking wine and water starch. Set aside for around 15 minutes.
    • Heat your cook firstly, then around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a non-stick pan or wok. Place chicken in when the oil is warm but not hot. Let the chicken stay for 3-5 seconds and gently stir fry the chicken until the the chicken slices turns pale. Transfer out.
    • Leave some oil in and fry garlic until aromatic. Place sha cha sauce in and add water. Bring everything to a boiling and then place chicken, chili peppers and red onion. Simmer for 1 minute and serve with steamed rice.

    Notes

    1. I love the chicken to be a little bit spicy. So you can spare red pepper or chose round red pepper.
    2. Crystal sugar added at end is for the color. This step is optional.
    3. Since Sha cha sauce contains some amount of salt, so do spare the salt added additionally.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2gCalories: 310kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 15gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 324mgPotassium: 326mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 455IUVitamin C: 65.1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 0.9mg
    Keyword chicken, Sha Cha
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

     

    sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

    More recipes you may enjoy

    • Sautéed Salt and Pepper Potatoes
    • Chinese Chive Potstickers
    • Moo Shu Pork
    • Spicy and Sour Shredded Potato

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. James Strange

      November 09, 2018 at 11:33 pm

      It looks so delicious

      Reply
    2. Andreas

      November 12, 2018 at 8:03 am

      3 stars
      Hi Elaine,

      I got the Bullhead BBQ Sauce and tried this. While it was a nice dish and didn't taste bad at all I felt something was wrong. There was a very slight taste of something like old fat or fish from muddy water. I can't exactly describe it.
      Mind you, it was in no way bad and maybe it's just didn't fit my taste as perfectly as the other recipes I found on your site.

      But thank you anyways, I had seen the sauce for a while at the store and wondered what it would be used for. I'll try the Sha cha beef anyhow, maybe to my taste it was just to strong for chicken.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        November 12, 2018 at 8:14 pm

        Haha, Andreas. I love that funny description : old fat fish from muddy water. Just forget about the sauce. I believe you do not like its taste.

        Reply
        • Andreas

          November 13, 2018 at 6:29 am

          You know Elaine, I just now looked up the ingredients and was surprised it actually contained fish (and dried shrimps). I totally didn't expect that - but I see now, that you explained it on the other page using that sauce. I thought it was some soybean based sauce and wondered about the strange taste 🙂

          As I love for example Vietnamese Thịt bò xào, I think I will try the beef anyhow. I won't get smarter if I don't and my grandma used to say you shouldn't throw food away. I can still decide that it's not my favorite afterwards.

          After all cooking is supposed to be adventurous and I thank you for being my guide in the strange lands of Chinese recipes 😉

          Reply
          • Elaine

            November 14, 2018 at 8:35 am

            Andreas,
            Dried shrimp and fish are the key ingredients to Sha Cha Sauce. So you feel it tastes like old fish. Yes, it may work better with beef.

            Reply
    3. Andreas

      July 21, 2019 at 3:54 am

      Hi Elaine,

      I just wanted to let you know, I don't dislike the Sha Cha sauce any more 🙂 I found a recipe on a youtube channel (我是马小坏) which uses pork belly and fried gluten balls and I really liked the sauce with that. I guess anything tastes pleasant with pork bellly 🙂 So thank you very much for introducing this ingredient to me, I'd never tried it otherwise.
      One day, when I fully understand how it's taste works in a recipe I'll try this one again.

      Reply
    4. kaye

      January 25, 2020 at 4:49 pm

      what is the alternative of sha cha sauce?

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi Welcome

    Hi welcome to my little corner where I sharing authentic and easy to follow Chinese recipes. Don't be limited by the site name. Know me more from About Page.

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Popular

    • Chinese Scallion Pancakes (Congyoubing)
    • Mapo Tofu Recipe
    • How to Make Boba Pearls at Home -Tapioca Pearls
    • Twice Cooked Pork--Szechuan Pork Stir Fry
    • Red Braised Pork Belly —(HongShaoRou)
    • Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry

    Find Recipes

    Email List

    Subscribe Our Email list to get updates and recipes

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    • Privacy Policy. Disclaimer. About. Hot Pot cookbook

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 ChinaSichuanFood.com | All Rights Reserved