Lazi Ji (Chongqing Chicken With Chiles)
Updated July 31, 2024
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, bones removed (see Tip)
- 1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger
- 1scallion, white part only
- 2teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- ½teaspoon fine salt
- 1¾ cups/1¾ ounces medium-hot dried red chiles (see Tip)
- ½teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 2garlic cloves
- 1(½-inch) piece fresh ginger
- 2scallions, white parts only (plus optional 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens for serving)
- About 2 cups cooking oil, for frying
- ½tablespoon Sichuan chile bean paste (see Tip)
- 2teaspoons whole Sichuan peppercorns (see Tip)
- Dash of Shaoxing wine
- ½teaspoon sugar
- ¼teaspoon fine salt
- 1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
For the Chicken and Marinade
For the Stir-fry
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
730 calories; 62 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 32 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 30 grams protein; 562 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the chicken: Cut the chicken thighs into ¾-inch chunks. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl.
- Step 2
Make the marinade. Lightly smack the ginger and scallion white with the flat of a cleaver blade or a rolling pin to crush them slightly, then add to the bowl of chicken, along with the Shaoxing wine and salt. Mix well, then let the chicken marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, snip the chiles into ½- to ¾-inch segments and shake out the seeds as much as possible (see Tip). Toast the sesame seeds, if using, in a small frying pan over very gentle heat until fragrant and tinged with gold. Peel and slice the garlic and ginger. Lightly smack the scallion whites with the flat of a cleaver blade or a rolling pin to crush them slightly.
- Step 4
Remove and discard the ginger and scallion white from the marinade. Heat 1⅔ cups cooking oil in a seasoned wok over high heat to 375 degrees. Add the chicken, stirring to separate the pieces, and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes until slightly golden. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon.
- Step 5
Reheat the oil to 375 degrees, return the chicken to the wok and fry for another 3 to 4 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Step 6
Carefully pour off the oil and wipe or brush out the wok if necessary. Return 3½ tablespoons of the oil to the wok and place over medium heat. Add the chile bean paste and stir until the oil is red, then add the garlic, ginger and scallion whites, and stir-fry briefly until they smell delicious. Add the chile segments and Sichuan peppercorns and stir until slightly scorched and aromatic, about 30 seconds, taking great care not to burn them; they should end up scorched but still gloriously red. (If the chiles are in danger of burning, remove the wok from the stove for a moment.)
- Step 7
Return the twice-fried chicken to the wok and stir briskly to coat in the fragrant oil. Stir in the Shaoxing wine, sugar and salt. Remove from heat, then stir in the sesame oil. Turn out onto a serving dish and scatter with the sesame seeds and scallion greens, if using.
- Most chicken thighs are sold with their skin and bones intact, or with both removed — but you can ask your butcher to remove the chicken bones, or do so yourself with little effort: Place a thigh on a cutting board, skin side down, and, using a boning knife, chef’s knife or sharp paring knife, make a single cut along the length of the bone. Carefully work the knife along the bone to scrape and separate it from the meat.
- Look for Sichuan chile bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns and dried red medium-hot chiles in Chinese supermarkets or online. You may be able to find the dried chiles cut into segments, which can save time in the kitchen.
- To speed this process, you can snip the chiles directly into a colander with large holes, then shake to release all the seeds at once.
Private Notes
Comments
Fuchsia Dunlop is the "Julia Child" of authentic Sichuan cooking! Anthony Bourdain, on the infamous heat level of Sichuan’s food: "It’s the spicy, sensualist heartland of all the things I love about China… food that can burn you down to a charred, smoking little stump." Bourdain, on Lazi Ji, a Sichuan spicy chicken specialty: "The dish, in practical terms, is a game of finding the bits of chicken in the mountain of butt-burning goodness. C’mon, it’s fun for the whole family."
It's a way to remove some of the fat and water from the chicken, turning it into much tastier morsels with a wonderfully delicate toothsomeness. Try it, you'll like it, as the saying goes.
Yes, Anthony Bourdain was right. This is a plateful of butt-burning goodness. Plus, my scalp is still tingling. Do not skimp on the Sichuan peppercorns.
It's by design wasteful of chiles so you might use only a cup or so, and leave some seeds in if you would like it spicier. I tried chicken tenders, which are probably too dry for this dish. Dunlop is well known for her Szechuan compilations, but we've gotten more mileage out of her Hunan cookbook.
A question from a newbie cook. Step 4 says to remove the scallion and ginger from the marinade… and then put the chicken in the pan. Do I pour the chicken into the pan along with the marinade or should I be transferring it with something like a slotted spoon?
Needs a lot more bean sauce. Chicken should probably be cooked at higher heat for shorter time to keep it from drying out.
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