This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If you love Wagamama Firecracker Chicken you’re going to love this recipe! This is my copycat version of that tasty stir fry – tender chicken, crunchy veggies and few HOT chillies in a lip-smackingly good sweet and spicy sauce. I love to serve this the Wagamama way with a mound of rice in the middle, topped of with a good sprinkling of shichimi.
“Easy to do and delicious 😋”
Nicky’s Notes
Wagamama’s Firecracker Chicken, have you tried it? It’s my go-to order when I go and it’s soooo good!
I’d love to tell you that I managed to steal the secret formula for this recipe SpongeBob style. But I didn’t.
This is my closest estimation of the recipe based on:
- Tasting the original (many times of course!!)
- Paying close attention to the menu description of the meal
- Scouring through my Wagamama cookbook in order to work out what key ingredients they use in their other sweet/spicy dishes (I bought the book especially to get the Firecracker chicken recipe, so was pretty gutted they left it out)
The result is a sweet, fiery and delicious stir fry! I actually like it better than the original!!
Table of Contents
What’s in firecracker sauce?
The sauce is pretty complex, with spicy, sweet, salty and tangy elements so I’m using:
- Spicy: fresh chilli, chilli sauce, white pepper
- Sweet: brown sugar and ketchup
- Salty: light and dark soy sauce and fish sauce
- Tangy: malt vinegar and tamarind paste
- We also have garlic for a tasty and fragrant kick and chicken (I use chicken breast) – as we’re going to marinade the chicken in some of that delicious sauce.
How to marinade the chicken:
- Mix together oil, chopped chilli, chilli sauce, garlic, brown sugar, light & dark soy sauce, ketchup, malt vinegar, tamarind, fish sauce and white pepper.
- Add 1/3 of the sauce to a bowl with the chicken and leave to marinade, covered in the fridge. Reserve the remaining sauce.
For the stir fry we need:
- Vegetable oil, crunchy peppers, mangetout (snow peas), onion, dried chillies and spring onions (scallions)
- We’re going to serve with rice and garnish with shichimi, sesame seeds and lime.
What is shichimi?
Shichimi (<- aff link) is a Japanese spice blend, also known a shichimi togarashi or Japanese 7-spice. It usually contains chilli powder, orange or yuzu peel, ginger, sansho (Japanese pepper), aonori (seaweed powder), black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds. It’s a spicy seasoning that’s great for finishing off a dish with a little heat and extra flavour.
What type of dried chillies to use
Dried Japanese chilli peppers would be the best option, but I’ve never been able to source them. I use dried arbol, tianjin or kashmiri chillies. The chillies just add a bit of extra heat and a nice look to the stir fry, so I don’t worry too much about using Japanese chillies. I bought my dried chillies (<–affiliate link) from Amazon the last couple of times and they were great.
To make the stir fry
- Fry the marinated chicken with onion, peppers, mangetout (snow peas) and dried chillies, then add in the reserved sauce.
- Stir through the spring onions (scallions) and cook for a further couple of minutes.
Recipe Tip
How to make a mound of rice
- Lightly oil a small bowl (this one is a 12cm/4.75″ diameter cereal bowl). Pack with rice and then push down firmly with a spoon or clean fingers.
- Place a plate on top of the bowl and flip the bowl and plate over.
- Lightly tap the bowl and lift the bowl to release the rice. It can take a couple of attempts, so it’s worth having a quick practice first.
To Serve:
- Spoon the firecracker chicken around the rice and then sprinkle with shichimi powder (<–affilate link) and sesame seeds.
- Top the rice with a wedge of lime and serve!
Most of the ingredients are pretty standard fridge/store cupboard stuff, with the exception of the dried chillies, and the shichimi. The shichimi is usually the only one that’s difficult to find at the supermarket, so I order from Amazon (<– affiliate link)
📺 Watch how to make it
This post was first published in June 2015. Updated later with new photos, tips and for housekeeping purposes.
More delicious stir fry recipes:
Equipment:
In order to make this Firecracker Chicken recipe you will need:
-
- A good Kitchen knife. I have recently bought this Dalstrong one and love it.
- Chopping Board
- Large bowl for marinating the chicken.
- Measuring Spoons
- Garlic Press
- A wok or if you dont have a wok then a frying pan/skillet will do
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
- Rice Steamer.
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
I make it all the time , with a few variations in ingredients, always turns out brilliant, also sometimes make 1/2 sweetener and 1/2 brown sugar m just to reduce calories , love it
I’ve always had problems making stir-fry. I would add the cornstarch to the seasoning liquid. Then i would add that too early. By the time the meat was cooked it would be a thick heavy mess. You helped me make it right. The addition of the sesame seeds and shishimi powder on the rice is brilliant! This is such a great recipe. And very adaptable for any stir-fry.
Does the nutritional info include the rice?
Hi Lauren, no it doesn’t include the rice.
Excellent copy of the original, but 4tbsp of sugar? I used one and the result was just fine.
Top recipe. I didn’t have brown sugar so ended up using honey. The blend for that sauce was delicious!
I love this recipe, but please could you include more delicious recipes using an air fryer. Especially those using marinated pork in a bbq or Asian style sweet/smoky/spicy sauce?
I don’t know if I have been to a Wagamama before (one did exist in my hometown in Australia but closed down), so I can’t vouch for how close to the real thing this take was.
I can vouch that it was a delicious treat and even opened the fields of Japanese cuisine even further for me. It is my top cuisine since there are so many facets to it – easy for me to think merely the curries and ramen, but the firecracker chicken is just as worthy to represent on the world stage.
It was just the right amount of spicy. I can still feel it tingling on my nose as I write this down, but I was not going to the fridge to pour some milk either. What also worked was the balance of flavours, with sweet and spicy plus a slight sourness thrown in. I didn’t have malt vinegar, so I used sesame oil in place of it. Plus, oyster sauce for one of the soy sauces.
Consider this a recipe I will be saving up and using as a backup for the busier times. Not to mention its real advantage is sneaking in a serving of vegetables that onion somehow dodges—a winner all-round.
I have tasted firecracker dish in London two years earlier and I am very happy to see your post in YouTube. Thank you for your version and I would certainly try and serve. My grand kids in Houston.
Another brilliant recipe I added egg noodles to mine second time just to try something different it worked well