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Salt and Pepper Chicken

Salt and Pepper Chicken is a popular Chinese takeout dish, crispy chicken chunks are tossed in onion, capsicum, garlic, and crushed pepper.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Protein, Sides
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Marinate:

  • 500 g Chicken Thigh boneless skinless cut into strips
  • 1 tsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 tsp Black Pepper freshly ground
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 Egg beaten
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Corn Flour
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Rice Flour
  • Oil for frying

Stir-Fry:

  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Ginger finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Green Onions finely chopped
  • 1 Onion thinly sliced
  • 1 small Capsicum Green Bell Pepper cut into strips
  • 1 tsp Soy Sauce
  • ½ tsp Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper freshly ground
  • Spring Onion Greens chopped for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Add all the ingredients mentioned under marinate into a mixing bowl and mix well. Ensure there are no lumps of flour. Set aside.
  • Heat oil in a deep pan, kadai or wok. Heat enough oil for deep frying the chicken pieces. Once hot, carefully add the marinated chicken pieces into the oil one at a time. Allow to fry on medium high heat for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove from the pan and transfer to a towel lined plate. Set aside.
  • Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Once hot, add garlic, ginger and green onions. Fry on high heat for 45 seconds to a minute
  • Add onion and capsicum and sauté on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper and the fried chicken pieces.
  • Toss to combine and mix well. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add chopped spring onions and serve hot.

Notes

  1. There are very few ingredients in this recipe, so use the best and freshest.
  2. Prep everything in advance, before you start cooking. This is a really quick recipe and the stir frying takes less than 5 minutes so you won't have time to chop anything later.
  3. You only need to marinate the chicken for 15 to 20 minutes. But if you have time, marinate it overnight for even more flavor.
  4. Use chicken wings, drumsticks, or boneless, skinless thighs that have been cut into chunks. You can use breast meat if you like, but I prefer using dark meat because it is more tender and more flavorful.
  5. You can use any neutral-flavored, high-smoke-point oil for frying. I usually use sunflower oil. Other good choices are peanut, canola, corn, vegetable, or grapeseed oil.
  6. Fry the chicken in batches so that you don’t crowd the pan. If you put too much chicken into the oil at once, it will lower the temperature of the oil and you won’t get that nice golden brown color.
  7. Fry the chicken in a deep fryer if that is what you have and if you are not sure about how hot the oil should be, use a cooking thermometer and fry the chicken at 180C/380F.
  8. Fry the chicken in batches so that you don’t crowd the pan. If you put too much chicken into the oil at once, it will lower the temperature of the oil and you won’t get that nice golden brown color.
  9. Bake the chicken pieces for a healthier option. This is good if you are on any diet plan, weight watchers, slimming world and the likes
  10. This recipe can be doubled to accommodate the numbers of people you are catering for.
Keyword Salt and Pepper Chicken