Pepper Chicken

stir-fry
chicken
One of my go-to stir-fry sauces.

source: Chinese Pepper Chicken | Marion’s Kitchen (marionskitchen.com) Recipe adjusted for typical use.

Servings: 6-8 Total time: 1-1.5 hours

Ingredients

Main

  • 800 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 120 g corn flour (cornstarch)
  • 2 onion, diced
  • 2 red capsicum, deseeded and diced
  • vegetable oil for shallow frying, plus 1 tbsp extra

Black pepper sauce

  • 1 tbsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
  • 144 g oyster sauce
  • 60 g Chinese Shaoxing wine
  • 10 g sweet dark soy sauce

Marinade

  • 30 g soy sauce
  • 10 g garlic, minced

Instructions

  1. Combine the chicken with the marinade ingredients. Set aside for later.
  2. Place the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry frying pan over high heat. Cook, shaking the pan, for 2 minutes or until the peppercorns are fragrant and just starting to smoke. Transfer to a mortar along with the black peppercorns. Grind to a fine powder.
  3. Mix 1 tbsp of the peppercorn powder with the oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and sweet dark soy sauce. Keep the remaining peppercorn powder in an air-tight container and use to season anything from pan-fried chicken to grilled prawns.
  4. Add about a centimeter of oil to the base of a wok or frying pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, toss half the marinated chicken in the corn flour and cook in the oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with the remaining chicken and flour.
  5. Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and capsicum and stir-fry for a minute. Add the chicken and the peppercorn sauce and stir-fry until well combined. Serve immediately.