12 Best Chinese Chicken Recipes You Can Try

Chicken dishes are common on Chinese dining tables. In some Chinese chicken recipes, the chicken is cooked wholly, while sometimes it is cut before cooking; sometimes the whole chicken is used, while sometimes only a part is taken; sometimes the chicken is the only ingredient, while sometimes it is matched with other ingredients. For Chinese, chicken can be fried, boiled, simmered, stewed, etc., and the flavors are differ from each other. Here are 12 famous Chinese chicken recipes for you.
 

Kung Pao Chicken

Chinese Name: 宫保鸡丁 gōng bǎo jī dīng
Flavor: spicy, salty and sweet
Ingredients: chicken breast, chili, peanuts
Cooking Methods: marinate, fry, stir-fry
1. Cut chicken breast into dices and marinate with salt, cooking wine and starch for 10 minutes.
2. Mix salt, white sugar, vinegar, cooking wine, soy sauce and a little starch in a small bowl, to make the seasoning sauce.
3. Fry peanuts to be well done, and place them aside.
4. Stir-fry dried chili with low heat, and add shallots. After, add marinated chicken diced, stir well and add the seasoning sauce.
5. Stir well and add fried shelled peanuts just before taking out.

Kung Pao Chicken is one of the most popular Chinese chicken dishes well known home and abroad.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Kung Pao Chicken
 

Chinese Name: 三杯鸡 sān bēi jī
Flavor: sweet and salty
Ingredients: Sanhuang chicken, mushrooms, rice wine, lard, soy sauce…
Cooking Methods: marinate, deep-fry, and stew
1. Mix a spoon of cooking wine, white ground pepper, sliced ginger and garlics well, then marinate diced chicken in the mixed sauce for 20 minutes.
2. Deep-fry the marinated chicken dices till the color turns.
3. Prepare a cup of rice wine, a cup of lard and a cup of soy sauce.
4. Stew fried chicken, sugar, diced mushrooms in a casserole over high heat with the three cups of seasonings prepared in last step. No water needs to be added. When it boils, turn down to low heat and continue to stew for 10 minutes.
5. At last, turn to high heat and keep stewing till the sauce is thick.

This is a famous Chinese chicken dish originated in Ningdu County, Jiangxi Province. The chicken used is the Sanhuang chicken, the specialty of Ningdu. A cup of rice wine, a cup of lard and a cup of soy sauce are added instead of water while stewing the chicken, hence the dish name.
 

Stewed Chicken with Three Cups Sauce

Spicy Chicken

Chinese Name: 辣子鸡 là zi jī
Flavor: numb and spicy, salty
Ingredients: chicken, dried chili, shallots, numb pepper…
Cooking Methods: stir-fry
1. Stir-fry diced chicken for one minute; after, add sliced ginger to continue stir-frying; another one minute later, add sliced garlics.
2. Stir them well, then add in soy sauce, pepper, and dried chili successively while stir-frying.
3. As the dried chili turns into a bright red color, add 2 tablespoons of white sugar and stir-fry them well.
4. Take them out and sprinkle some white sesame.

Spicy Chicken is a common Chinese chicken food at home. It is numb and spicy in a bright red color. The chick would be better for the dish.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Diced Chicken with Chili
 

Chinese Name: 左宗棠鸡 zuǒ zōng táng jī
Flavor: spicy, salty, aromatic
Ingredients: chicken thigh, dried chili, starch, eggs, carrots, white vinegar…
Cooking Methods: deep-fry, stir-fry
1. Remove the bones of the chicken thigh and cut them into dices.
2. Mix chicken dices with egg white, cooking wine, salt, soy sauce and starch and stay for 30 minutes.
3. Mix water, white vinegar, soy sauce, cooking wine, white sugar and garlic paste in a bowl.
4. Deep-fry the chicken dices. When the color turns into golden yellow, take them out.
5. Heat some oil in another wok, add in garlic paste and sliced carrots, stir well and add the mixed sauce and boil them.
6. Add fried chicken dices and stir-fry them. At last, sprinkle chopped shallots.

The creator named this dish after the famous General Tso Zongtang, but in fact, it has nothing with the general. The local hen that has never lay an egg would be the best to cook this Chinese chicken dish.
 

Chinese Name: 大盘鸡 dà pán jī
Flavor: spicy, salty, numb
Ingredients: chicken, potatoes, green pepper, chili…
Cooking Methods: fry, stew
1. Quick-boil the chicken dices till the color changes.
3. Heat some oil, add in dry chili, sliced garlics and sliced ginger, stir well and add in thick broad-bean sauce. Then add in chicken dices and sugar and soy sauce. Stir them well.
4. Add a bottle of beer and a bowl of water; after the soup is boiling, turn to medium fire and stew for 20 minutes.
5. Add diced potatoes and stew them for another 10 minutes.
6. Add in diced green peppers and stir for 2-3 minutes,
7. Serve on a big plate.

Chinese people usually eat the Big Plate Chicken together with Xinjiang hand-pulled noodles. After absorbing the sauce of chicken, noodles will be very tasty.
 

White Cut Chicken

Chinese Name: 白斩鸡 bái zhǎn jī
Flavor: original chicken flavor
Ingredients: Sanhuang chicken, shallot, ginger, garlic
Cooking Methods: boil
1. Boil the whole cleaned chicken over low heat with some sliced ginger. Make sure the water does not boil during the process. It takes about half an hour for the chicken to be cooked.
3. Put a little chopped shallot, ginger and garlic, sugar, salt, vinegar and sesame oil into a small bowl, and add some water that used to boil the chicken, then mix them well.
4. Cut the boiled chicken into loafs, and serve it with the mixed sauce.

White Cut Chicken is a cold dish in Cantonese cuisine. The best chicken for this dish is the Sanhuang chicken from Yangshan County, Qingyuan, Guangdong. It tastes extremely tender.

 

Chinese Name: 黄焖鸡 huáng mèn jī
Flavor: salty
Ingredients: chicken thigh, mushrooms, green chili…
Cooking Methods: simmer, braise
1. Quick boil the diced chicken thigh to remove blood and unwanted smell.
2. Simmer the chicken dices in a pressure cooker with mushroom, sliced ginger, chili, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cooking wine.
3. Remove them into a casserole, add in salt and cook over high fire till the sauce is almost gone.

Braised Chicken with Brown Sauce is one of the most popular Chinese chicken dishes that originated from Jinan, Shandong Province. The chicken meat is tender and the soup is mellow and oily with red color. It is usually eaten with rice.

 

Chinese Name: 海南鸡饭 hǎi nán jī fàn
Flavor: original chicken flavor
Ingredients: chicken, rice…
Cooking Methods: boil, stir-fry
1. Boil the whole chicken over low heat for 20 minutes or so till it is fully cooked, then smash sesame oil on chicken skin and dice it.
2. Stir-fry soaked rice with chicken oil and minced garlic, pour some chicken soup that is used to boil the chicken, add a little salt and boil them till the rice is cooked.
4. Fry green vegetables with salt until it is tender.
5. Mix chopped onion, chili and ginger, garlic paste, salt and lemon juice well, add a spoon of chicken soup into it. The dipping sauce is done.

A full set of Hainanese Chicken Rice includes a bowl of chicken soup, a bowl of rice, a plate of chicken with dipping sauce, and some vegetables.
 

Chinese Name: 口水鸡 kǒu shuǐ jī
Flavor: numb and spicy
Ingredients: chicken, shallot, ginger…
Cooking Methods: quick-boil, fry
1. Quick-boil chicken dices with shallot sections, sliced ginger and cooking wine.
2. Put the boiled chicken dices into iced water to cool it.
3. Stir-fry chopped shallot, ginger and garlic quickly with oil, after, pour the oil into chili powder to get red chili oil.
4. Mix a little soy sauce, salt, sugar, vinegar and two spoons of red chili oil.
5. Take chicken dices out of iced water, and pour the mixed sauce on them.

Tasty Chicken with Chili Sauce is a cold dish in Sichuan cuisine. With rich condiments, it tastes numb and spicy, and the chicken is tender.

Tasty Chicken with Chili Sauce

Stewed Chicken with Mushroom

Chinese Name: 小鸡炖蘑菇 xiǎo jī dùn mó gu
Flavor: salty
Ingredients: chicken, dried mushrooms…
Cooking Methods: stir-fry, stew
1. Soak the dried mushrooms and cut the chicken into dices.
2. Quick-boil the chicken dices to remove the blood.
3. Stir-fry sliced ginger, shallot sections, cinnamon, star anises, and myrcia, add chicken dices to keep stir-frying till the chicken dices turn yellowish.
4. Add soy sauce and stir well, then pour in some hot water to soak the chicken dices, and add mushrooms.
6. Stew them for about half an hour over low heat.
7. Add salt and continue to stew over high heat till the soup turns thick.

Stewed Chicken with Mushroom is a popular Chinese chicken dish in Northeast China. The chicken is from local, and the wild nut-tree mushroom would be the best choice.

 

Cola Chicken Wings

Chinese Name: 可乐鸡翅 kě lè jī chì
Flavor: salty, sweet
Ingredients: cola, chicken wings, cooking wine…
Cooking Methods: marinate, pan-fry, stir-fry, braise
1. Marinate chicken wings with soy sauce, salt and cooking oil.
2. Pan-fry marinated chicken wings until the color changes.
3. Add garlic, ginger and chili to stir-fry for a few seconds.
4. Add some cola to just submerge the chicken wings.
5. Put the cover and braise them for about 10 minutes till the sauce is thick.

This is the most popular Chinese chicken dish among children.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Cola Chicken Wings

 

Chinese Name: 板栗烧鸡 bǎn lì shāo jī
Flavor: salty, sweet, thick sauce
Ingredients: chicken, chestnuts, ginger, shallot…
Cooking Methods: deep-fry, fry, braise and stew
1. Remove big bones of chicken and cut it into dices.
2. Deep-fry chestnuts until they are golden.
3. Heat some oil in another wok, add in the chicken dices and stir well.
4. Add Shaoxing wine, sliced ginger, soy sauce and broth, and braise them for about half an hour.
6. Add deep-fried chestnuts, salt, chopped shallots and pepper powder and stir well.
7. Add in starch water till the sauce turns thick, and sprinkle a little sesame oil.

Braised Chicken with Chestnuts is one of the best Chinese chicken dishes, with fresh and smooth chicken meat, bright red color and thick sauce.