Sichuan peppercorn chicken (藤椒鸡). This is a dish for all real Sichuan food lovers especially for those who loves the numbing feeling of Sichuan peppercorn. It is the harvesting season of Sichuan peppercorn recently. We have on Sichuan peppercorn tree in the backyard so this is a customized recipe for this season. In other seasons when fresh peppercorn are not available, use dried green peppercorns.
Possibly I need to introduce Sichuan Peppercorn a little bit more. Sichuan peppercorn(花椒huajiao In Chinese) sometimes also short as Sichuan pepper or Szechuan pepper, is one of the traditional Chinese medicines. It can help to create a numb feeling of your tongue. If you ever tried the Mala taste of Sichuan cuisine, then it is Sichuan peppercorn that brings the ma taste. Taste of green peppercorn is quite different from commonly used red ones.
Although this sounds similar to mala chicken, hot and numbing, this one is totally different. It is very fresh, strong but not so profound! I highly recommend you trying once. This is summer great for summer. 
Instructions
Cook the chicken| In a large pot, add scallion, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn and water. Heat to a boiling, let it simmer for 5 minutes and then turn off fire and stand for 10 minutes. Remember to remove the foams after boiling.Once the meat can be insert through, it is just cooked.
Place the chicken leg in iced water
Cut into large pieces. And transfer chicken to serving plate with smashed cucumber. At the same time, scoop around 1 cup of chicken stock to cool down.
Make the sauce|Heat around 2 tablespoons of vegetable cooking in a small pot, add garlic, ginger and scallion until aromatic.
Place red Sichuan peppercorn and green Sichuan peppercorn in.
Place fresh peppers in. Slightly heat for a while. Turn off fire, add white pepper, chicken stock (cooled), light soy sauce, oyster sauce and salt. The sauce should be slightly salty than common dishes.
Pour sauce in. Let them soak 30 minutes. 
Sichuan Peppercorn Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 chicken legs
- 1 thumb ginger
- 2 scallion
- 1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 tbsp. Shaoxing wine
Sauce
- 2 tbsp. Sichuan green peppercorn
- 1 tbsp. red sichuan peppercorn
- 3 long fresh chili pepper , cut into small sections
- 3 long red chili pepper , cut into small sections
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cucumber , peeled and smashed
- 1 small bunch of coriander
- ¼ tsp. ground pepper
Instructions
- Cook the chicken| In a large pot, add scallion, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn and water. Heat to a boiling, let it simmer for 5 minutes and then turn off fire and stand for 10 minutes. Remember to remove the foams after boiling.Once the meat can be insert through, it is just cooked. Place the chicken leg in iced water
- Cut into large pieces. And transfer chicken to serving plate with smashed cucumber. At the same time, scoop around 1 cup of chicken stock to cool down.
- Make the sauce|Heat around 2 tablespoons of vegetable cooking in a small pot, add garlic, ginger and scallion until aromatic.
- Place red Sichuan peppercorn and green Sichuan peppercorn in.
- Place fresh peppers in. Slightly heat for a while. Turn off fire, add white pepper, chicken stock (cooled), light soy sauce, oyster sauce and salt. Pour sauce in. Let them soak 30 minutes before eating.
Notes
Nutrition
Lia
Hi, Elaine! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It's written 1tbs of Shaoxing wine in the recipe but I couldn't find it in the cooking process. Did you use it for boiling the chicken or for the sauce?
Looking forward to hearing your feedback.
Regards,
Lia
Elaine
Add cooking in when cooking the chicken legs.
Richard Tauvon
Really really good, hot but not too hot
Elaine
Thanks Richard! I love your description of the hot level. That's actually is my goal, hot and full of flavor but not too hot!!
Greg
I don't have green Szechuan pepper, just the dried red ones. Should I use more of those?
Elaine
You can soak the dried red ones with warm water to replace it.