{"id":33041,"title":"Sichuan-Style Caramelized Chicken","modified":"2025-06-16T08:32:31+02:00","plain":"Today we're cooking Chinese, and I'm taking you to Sichuan province for one of its spiciest dishes: Sichuan caramelized chicken.\n\n\n\nIn case you didn't know, Sichuan is a region in southwest China and the natural home of giant pandas. Sadly, they aren't edible, so let's talk instead about the region's famously fiery culinary traditions. Sichuan cuisine relies heavily on fragrant Sichuan pepper and, more broadly, on very spicy food.\n\n\n\nWhen it comes to heat, Sichuan cuisine can easily rival Korean food (represented here by Korean wings)\n\n\n\nIn this Sichuan caramelized chicken, you can substitute regular peppercorns for Sichuan pepper; you'll lose a bit of heat and authenticity, but the result will still be delicious, just different.\n\n\n\nIngredients for Sichuan Caramelized Chicken\n\n\n\nDark soy sauce: not to be confused with light soy sauce; you can usually find it in Asian grocery stores\n\n\n\nSichuan pepper: A staple in Sichuan cooking. You can swap in black pepper and the dish will still taste good, but it simply won't have the same distinctive flavor.\n\n\n\nTips for Sichuan Caramelized Chicken\n\n\n\nSichuan pepper packs a punch, so resist the urge to add more than the recipe calls for all at once. Taste as you go; otherwise, you may encounter fiery surprises and your guests could seriously inflate your water bill (and maybe even your toilet-paper bill...)\n\n\n\nCheck out my Sichuan beef recipe\n\n\n\nThis recipe comes together quickly, but you need to keep an eye on the pan. The sugar can over-caramelize in a flash, and once a hint of burnt flavor appears, the taste changes completely. Yes, I speak from experience: look away to answer a text and, boom, you've crossed the critical threshold and it's too late to save everything :(\n\n\n\nSo stay alert! (I may sound dramatic, but don't worry - it's actually one of the simplest recipes on my site, so keep calm and cook Sichuan caramelized chicken.)\n\n\n\nI also have another recipe from this region: Sichuan beef, which I personally prefer, but to each their own.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tSichuan Caramelized Chicken\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t2 boneless chicken thighs cut into pieces6 tablespoons granulated sugar5 tablespoons dark soy sauce1.5 tablespoons lemon juice4 minced garlic cloves2 sliced green chilies2 sliced red chilies1 large handful bean sprouts1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns\t\n\t\n\t\tStart by stir-frying the sprouts, peppercorns, chilies and garlic with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce in a very hot wok with a little oil. As soon as they brown, remove from the heat and set aside.Add another splash of oil and stir-fry the chicken over high heat for 4\u20135 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and the sugar, then reduce the heat to medium.Stir frequently until the sauce starts to thicken. Do not hesitate to lower the heat if you think it is going to burn.Once the desired caramelisation is reached, add the vegetables and stir-fry for 2\u20133 minutes.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tMain courseChinese","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}