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Sha Cha Chicken

November 3, 2018 7 Comments

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

  • 1/4 red onion
  • 2 green peppers (both bell and spicy pepper work fine)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 and 1/2 tbsp. sha cha sauce
  • 1/2 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

3 from 1 vote
sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com
Print
Sha Cha Chicken
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 
Braised Chicken with Chinese Sha Cha Sauce
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Cantonese cuisine
Keyword: chicken, Sha Cha
Servings: 3
Calories: 310 kcal
Author: Elaine
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
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 2 green peppers , both bell and spicy pepper work fine
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1.5 tbsp. sha cha sauce
  • 1/2 cup stock or water
Instructions
  1. Slice chicken and then marinating with soy sauce, cooking wine and water starch. Set aside for around 15 minutes.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
Recipe 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 Facts
Sha Cha Chicken
Amount Per Serving (2 g)
Calories 310 Calories from Fat 207
% Daily Value*
Fat 23g35%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 79mg26%
Sodium 324mg14%
Potassium 326mg9%
Carbohydrates 8g3%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 15g30%
Vitamin A 455IU9%
Vitamin C 65.1mg79%
Calcium 19mg2%
Iron 0.9mg5%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

sha cha chicken|chinasichuanfood.com

Filed Under: poultry, Recipes

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  1. James Strange says

    November 9, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    It looks so delicious

    Reply
  2. Andreas says

    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 says

      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 says

        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 says

          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 says

    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 says

    January 25, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    what is the alternative of sha cha sauce?

    Reply

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