Chicken La Zi Ji Is Hot, It's Dramatic, It's Spicy. Usually dried red chili peppers just about cover the chicken when it’s presented at the table, and dinners have to pick through and search for the meat. I wasn’t a fan of this. It just seemed like a waste of chilies. I’ve made adjustments accordingly to my recipe, while still (hopefully) achieving the dramatic look this dish deserves.
Note:You can use fewer dried chilies if you like. This dish won’t actually be that spicy, unless you break open some of the dry hot peppers. If you do like the dish spicy, don’t break open more than six peppers. It will be hot enough, trust me.Okay, let’s start.
Rinse the chicken and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the marinade ingredients. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Prepare the rest of the ingredients. When you’re ready to cook, heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add marinated chicken and let it cook till it done.. Once you’ve got a good, crisp crust on the bottom of the chicken, stir and continue to deep fry the chicken until it’s browned and crisp on all sides.
You really need a hot wok to achieve this. Turn off the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate.
Keep about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Add more if you need to. Heat the wok over medium low heat, and peanuts n cook it for min on low flame. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
Add the spring onion, cilantro, whole dried chilies, and stir for another minute. Monitor the heat levels to avoid burning.
Turn up the heat to high, and add the chicken, sugar, and salt.Continue to stir-fry, until any liquid in the wok has evaporated.Transfer it to a plate when its done.
Now garnish with some dried rec'd chilies n sesame seeds.
Serve your Chongqing chicken (la zi ji) with lots of steamed jasmine rice and a veggie on the side!
