Chongqing Chicken With Chilies (Laziji, 辣子鸡)
Published Apr 10, 2015, Updated Apr 23, 2024
Chengdu Challenge #17: Chongqing Hot Chicken
Below is a photo of the very first plate of Chongqing chicken—sometimes called 辣子鸡 (làzǐjī), or just chicken with chilies—I ever had. It was in Chengdu in 2007, in a famous, upscale restaurant. When the server put it down on the table, my husband and I broke into nervous laughter as we saw chunks of fried chicken sitting under an avalanche of dried chili peppers. If we were sweating now, we thought, wait until we try to polish this dish off so as not to embarrass ourselves as wimpy Americans.
But like many dishes in Sichuan, this one’s looks were deceiving. Though this Chongqing chicken was glammed up with chili peppers in a ratio of about 10 whole chilies to one small chunk of chicken, the dish was not explosively hot but merely nicely spiced, like a gorgeous, intimidating woman who turns out to be your loveable new best friend.
Following the Chinese imperative that food look good and smell good before it taste good, the large ruby chilies glistened and their lightly scorched aroma blended with that of abundant Sichuan pepper to entice and delight us before we ever sank our teeth into the chicken.
The only bummer to the dish as it’s served in China is that you can’t really sink your teeth into the chicken because it is almost always more bone than chicken. Traditionally, Chongqing cooks whack up a whole, quite small chicken, bones and all. The Chinese like this, because they like to gnaw on a bone to get to the meat. But I’m American, so I prefer a nice chunk of bone-free chicken meat. At least we were smart enough to realize that you don’t actually eat the peppercorns or chilies (well, maybe just a few), but instead pick out the chicken bits, which are coated with just the right amount of mala hot-and-numbing oil.
Since that encounter, I’ve ordered Chongqing chicken many times in Chengdu—and eventually in Chongqing, the autonomous megalapolis where it originated and which used to be part of Sichuan Province. Not many versions have strayed from the traditional—though I once had one that incorporated fried, small-diced potato. Yum.
I wanted to test the various versions in my Sichuan cookbook collection, but strangely, none of them have a recipe for laziji. It’s said to have been created in the 1920s, but didn’t really blow up until the 1990s, so perhaps that explains why the two books published in the 1970s don’t have it. But I can’t hazard a guess as to why the definitive Sichuan Cuisine in Both Chinese and English doesn’t have it. In any case, I’ve been trying to perfect this recipe myself on and off for years, so that is what you’re going to get here.
Funny enough, Sichuan hot chicken reminds me of the most famous dish indigenous to my city—Nashville hot chicken. Nashville’s version is fried chicken that packs a real punch if you order the “hot,” and a total knock-out if you order the “extra hot.” The original purveyor of hot chicken zealously guards its recipe, but folks have figured out that it is probably marinated in a chili pepper brine, fried in a chili batter and, after it comes out of the fryer, brushed with chili-laden lard. Yes, it’s hot. And it’s soooo good.
I have to give a nod here to my friend Dub, who wanted (very presciently, in 2015) to open a hot-chicken truck in Nashville but secretly prepare the chicken Sichuan mala style, with the addition of Sichuan pepper to the chili pepper—”People won’t know what hit ’em.”
Like hot chicken, Chongqing chicken is given a spicy hot oil bath after frying. It is not generally battered like American fried chicken, but to further dial up the flavor I decided to add a light mala coating for the deep-fry, incorporating a fair amount of chili powder and ground Sichuan pepper into the corn starch dusting I give the chicken chunks in order to help them brown and crisp up nicely without adding an actual Americanized batter coating.
I leave the dried chili peppers whole, emulating that first-ever version I had, because they are so beautiful that way. Use large, fat Sichuan chilies (like these lantern chilies) if you can find them, or other medium-hot chilies. Leaving them whole is another reason the dish needs the extra heat from the mala coating. (To learn all about Sichuan pepper and how to make ground, roasted Sichuan pepper powder, go here.)
The chicken bits are fried twice, as they do in Sichuan, and should end up both crispy and tender. I then use Sichuan ground chilies, red Sichuan peppercorns and, sometimes, fresh-pine-scented green Sichuan peppercorns in the finishing stir-fry oil.
The end result is crispy, hot, numbing, garlicky, gingery, oniony fried goodness. Finger-licking good, for sure, if you want to forgo your chopsticks. Move over, KFC and Korean fried chicken, Chongqing chicken is destined for American glory.
Several years after I wrote this recipe, Fongchong and I finally made it to Chongqing and ate the dish in its hometown. That resulted in a different version that I called Chongqing Chicken Like It’s Made in Chongqing. I’ve also given a similar treatment to both lobster and squid.
Chongqing Chicken With Chilies (Laziji, 辣子鸡)
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless dark-meat chicken, cut in small, ½-inch cubes 450 grams
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon Chinese light soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons potato starch or corn starch
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan ground chilies (chili flakes)
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground Sichuan pepper (see note)
- 1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ cups rapeseed oil or peanut oil
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced ginger
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan ground chilies (chili flakes)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- At least 3 cups/3 ounces whole dried red Sichuan chilies (snip some in half and include seeds for a spicier version)
- 2 teaspoons red Sichuan peppercorns (or 1 teaspoon red and 1 teaspoon green Sichuan peppercorns)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 scallions, roughly chopped, whites and greens separated
Instructions
- Marinate chicken pieces in Shaoxing wine and soy sauce while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Mix corn starch, 1 tablespoon Sichuan ground chilies, ground Sichuan pepper and salt in a large sealable baggie. Add the chicken pieces, leaving any accumulated juices behind. Shake the chicken pieces in the potato starch mixture until they are lightly coated.
- Heat wok on high heat until wisps of smoke start to rise and add enough oil to deep-fry the chicken, about 1½ cups. If your wok or pan is large enough, you can fry it in one batch, but do not overcrowd the chicken. When oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and reduce heat to medium; the frying process should produce a medium bubble, frying at around 350°. When the chicken pieces appear to be cooked through, remove them from the oil to rest on paper towels. Return the oil to a high heat and add back the chicken in two batches, so they are not at all crowded. This time they should finish frying at a high heat, about 375°F, with a large, fast bubble. Fry just until the chicken is crispy and golden brown, then remove to drain on paper towels.
- Pour off oil to a bowl, clean the wok and return to heat. When hot, add back 4 tablespoons of the frying oil. Heat briefly on medium heat, then add the garlic and ginger and cook until softened. Stir-fry vigorously from now on, as you don't want anything to brown. Add 2 tablespoons ground chilies and sesame seeds, stirring until lightly toasted, then add the whole chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns and scallion whites. Stir until fragrant, then add the sugar.
- Add back the chicken along with the scallion greens, and stir-fry until well mixed. Plate with chili peppers prominently displayed.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Shop The Mala Market
Zhongba 360 Light Soy Sauce (Naturally Brewed 1 Year)Buy on Mala Market
Shaoxing Huadiao Rice Wine for CookingBuy on Mala Market
Fragrant-Hot Ground Chilies (Sichuan Chili Flakes, Xiang La La Jiao Mian)Buy on Mala Market
Roasted Rapeseed Oil (Caiziyou)Buy on Mala Market
Facing Heaven Zi Dan Tou Chili (Chao Tian Jiao)Buy on Mala Market
Lantern Chili (Deng Long Jiao)Buy on Mala Market
Da Hong Pao Sichuan Pepper (Hua Jiao)Buy on Mala Market
Green Sichuan Pepper (Qing Hua Jiao)Buy on Mala Market
I just got back from a trip to Hong Kong/ China. Our first night there we went to one of the late night street markets Hong Kong is famous for, we were tired and jet legged and most of all hungry… We stopped into this slammed little joint called temple street spicy crab…. I wasn’t in the mood for crab so the ” fried chicken” looked good…. Low and behold it was the best effing chicken I’ve ever had!
For the rest of the trip I talked about it. I even tried to go back while stopping back through Hong Kong but it was closed 🙁 anywho I’ve been trying to find a recipe and the search has led me high and low. I think I’ve finally found something that might compare!! Really excited to try this one out!
Hi Cody,
Thanks for your interesting message. I’ve had typhoon shelter crab in Hong Kong, which I assume is what they were serving. Was it covered under a mound of fried garlic? I’ve never thought about that treatment for chicken, but it is pretty similar to Chongqing chicken now that I think about it. Both are fried and then wokked with chilies and garlic. The difference, I think, would be that fried garlic, but that might be a good variation on this. Let me know how it goes!
Thank you for a great website! I am really enjoying reading your story and recipes! I’m a pretty basic cook, but maybe I will try some of these recipes!
Last fall I was in Beijing for the first time. I went out for lunch one day and had my favorite: Sichuan-style Chicken. It was my first real experience with mala. My mouth was numb for an hour, haha! Now thanks to you, I understand why! Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much, Christopher! That’s how a mala addiction starts…
Hi, Taylor! I just read a very interesting article about the introduction of the chili pepper into Sichuan: http://nautil.us/issue/35/boundaries/why-revolutionaries-love-spicy-food. Check it out. I think you will enjoy the article!
Chris
PS, keep up the good work! Love the website!
Hi Chris! I do know this piece and it is fascinating. The writer, Andrew Leonard, is a Mala Project follower and asked me if he could use my recipe and photo for la zi ji. Did you recognize it? It was fun to see it there. Glad you saw the piece too!
As an expat in China of several years, I’ll have to say your recipes are incredibly authentic. Love your background in finding the cuisine and your adoptive background as well. So sweet and definitely resonates with my beliefs! I’ll definitely be linking back to your blog with my Chinese-inspired recipes. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Monica! I love to hear from China expats, and especially those who relate to the blog. 🙂 Checked yours out too, and those egg dumplings are very enticing… http://www.woklikeme.com/blog/yangshuo-egg-dumplings
You nailed it! This was fantastic.
Love to hear that! Thanks for writing!
I found it interesting that a variant you once had in Chengdu contained bits of fried potato. I ordered this dish at “Q” in Boston, which is a restaurant more known for hot pot than authentic Sichuan cuisine. It was delicious and very close to recipes for Chongqing chicken I had seen before, but there were a handful of french fries in it. I was really confused and thought they added it as filler, but after reading this it seems the chef knew what he was doing!
Interesting. The one I had was more like little diced home fries, but I wouldn’t be sad to find french fries in my la zi ji. 🙂
Taylor, I have been making Chongqing Spicy Chicken over the last 12 years since my first trip to Shanghai. I had it once and was hooked and have sought out the best every time I return to China. Question I am making this tonight for a larger group of people 10. So the frying will be very time consuming and I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen and not socializing. What are your thoughts on pre frying the chicken and how I might keep it crispy until it’s ready to go back in the wok for the final stir fry with the peppers, garlic and Ginger
Sorry not to reply sooner, Frank. But I’m not sure I could have helped anyway, since I’ve never tried to pre-fry the chicken. Since this is not a heavily breaded chicken, I’m assuming it could wait around awhile. I would love to hear your feedback if you tried it though. Thanks!
Taylor worked out fine. Instead of drawing on Paper towels. I drained them on a cooling rack over a baking pan. Then popped them in a 120F oven until I was ready to add them to the wok. Had everything pre sliced and diced before the guests arrived so I could socialize for about an hour then as you know once we were ready to eat. It all was finish off in the wok in 5 minutes. I also do a variation of the chongqing chicken that I also add fresh baby corn cut in bite size angular cuts, and snow peas cut angularly , and peanuts . It adds a bit of veggies that I find kind of a nice additional crunch to the mix. It must have all been good because I made 4 pounds of cut up chicken thigh meat and there wasn’t a bit left some had two and three helpings thanks for the reply.
Great to know! I admire your effort to make this dish for a crowd. I’ll have to try it!
Hi, everytime I have ordered this in China and abroad it comes with peanuts. I am guessing you would just toss them in with the spring onions at the end?
Sure, but it’s best to fry them yourself, as in gong bao dishes:
Taylor, each of the 15 or so recipes of yours that I have read so far (from top to bottom) has presented every aspect [historical background, dish names, your variants, ingredients, and processes] so perfectly excellent that from now on my Sichuan folder will only contain your Mala items. Really !!
Thanks so much, Bruce! Some days you just need to hear feedback like that. I hope they cook for you as well as they read. 🙂