Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast

This recipe of Chinese salt and pepper chicken breast is an explosion of flavors. You can enjoy it as a snack, starter, or even as a main meal served near some noodles or fried rice. By using a simple marinade and a few vegetables such as bell peppers, scallions, garlic, ginger, and onions, you can get an incredible taste on the plate. Learn some simple techniques that will allow you to cook this salt and chili chicken better than your local takeaways.

You will find this kind of dish in a lot of Chinese restaurants. And this is for a reason. It’s delicious and it’s very versatile. You can eat it in a lot of combinations.

A few simple vegetables fried with a few spices with chicken in a WOK can bring you some spectacular results.

Usually, I’m not frying anything in my kitchen, but this recipe is so good that I allow myself from time to time to make it at home. And sure, you don’t need an entire cast-iron skillet full of oil. I’m using the oil just to cover it a little the meat.

If you want to make this recipe healthier, the secret is to keep the oil at the right temperature. In that case, the ingredients will not absorb the oil.

Feel free to adjust the level of spices to suit your taste.

If you want a detailed step-by-step explanation, please follow the next steps. If you want just a basic, short, guide, you can scroll to the end for the Recipe Card.

Why this recipe is so popular?

• It will take you only 30 minutes to make it, which usually is faster than waiting for the delivery from a takeaway.
• It is very simple and easy to make. It requires form you only a few steps and you have your delicious dish on the table.
• It is affordable in ingredients. For this recipe, you need just a few basic vegetables and a chicken breast.
• It is very versatile, and you can combine it with a lot of side dishes.
• You control the ingredients, especially the amount of the oil so you can make it healthier than ordering from the restaurants.

Tips for Success? How to make it better?

• If you want to get the best results, you should marinate the chicken the night before. If you’re limited on time, 15-25 minutes should be more than enough for the chicken to marinade.
• Fry the chicken in small batches. If you will put too much meat into the heated oil, the oil temperature will go down and you will not get this browny color on the chicken and the chicken breast will absorb more oil than we need.
• Chose and adjust your chiles on how spicy you and your family are used to eating. If your family doesn’t like spicy food, you can stick only to red and, or green bell peppers instead.

Ingredients Swap?

• Corn starch. You can replace it with potato starch or just with all-purpose flour. Check this article for more starch alternatives.
• Spring Onions. You can replace them with scallions.
• Chili peppers. I used fresh chili pepper but you can also use dried chili flakes or just to replace the chili pepper with the one that you and your family are ok with it spiciness.
• Chicken breasts. You can use other parts of the chicken or even use turkey instead of chicken.

How to scale the recipe up and down?

You can half the recipe, double, or even triple the recipe. Just stick with the same ratio of ingredients. The only ingredient you should pay attention to is the oil. Use it just to cover the ingredients.

If you will double-triple the recipe, a better idea will be to fry the chicken in the oil in multiple batches. This will make it easier for you to maintain a high oil temperature and you will avoid that the meat will absorb oil.

What Ingredients do you need?

• 1 medium Chicken Breast. Approx:  28oz (750 grams)
• 34 US fl. oz. (1 liter) of oil.
• Corn Starch to cover all the meat.
• 3 Spring Onions.
• 1 medium Onion.
• 1 piece of Chili Pepper or to your taste.
• 3 Garlic cloves.
• ½ of a medium Bell pepper.
• Optionally: 1 tablespoon of Ginger.
• Salt & Pepper to taste.

Step-by-step Recipe:

Prepare all the vegetables. Wash them well and cut them into thin slices as in the picture below:

Cut the meat into strips about the size of a finger. Make sure that all the pieces to be the same size. By doing that, the meat will be cooked evenly.

After that, season the chicken breast or the meat you have chosen with salt and pepper to your taste.

Now, take a large bowl. Put the chicken breast in it and pour starch over the meat. Mix well until you will cover the meat with starch on all sides.

Preheat the oil in a saucepan to 350°F (175 °C). If you do not have a kitchen thermometer, you can test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small piece of meat into the heated oil.

If it starts to sizzle, you can start frying.

Quick Note: Make sure that the heat under the pan is closer to low than medium. If the oil temperature will be too high, the meat will burn on the outside, but on the inside, it will remain raw.

Put a few slices of meat into the heated oil. Be careful not to make any splashes of hot oil because you can burn yourself.

Quick Note: Fry the meat in several batches because if you will put all the meat at once, the oil temperature will cool down and as a result, the meat will absorb too much oil.

When the meat will get a slightly golden color as in the image below, you can take it out from the pan.

To make sure that the meat is fried enough, break a piece of meat in half and check if it is cooked inside. When the meat is ready, take it out and put it on a plate covered with paper napkins or in a sieve to drain the excesses of the oil.

In the meantime, pour a little oil in a wok or in a large pan. If you have sesame oil, I will recommend using it instead. It will give an extra flavor to the vegetables.

Pour all the sliced vegetables into the pan and fry them for 2-3 minutes on high heat.

After that, add the chicken breast (or the meat you decided to use instead) over the vegetables and mix everything. Fry all the ingredients for another minute.

Our Salt and Chili Chicken is ready to be served. I sprinkled over the dish some fried sesame seeds for an extra flavor. You can also add some green onion tails.

Answering Your Questions:

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