This Chinese Plum Chicken Stir Fry is a little bit different from your regular chicken stir fry. Crispy coated chicken in a lightly spicy sticky-sweet sauce with crunchy peppers and sliced plums (if you like pineapple in sweet & sour you’ll LOVE this).
Nicky’s recipe notes
Sweet and tangy sauces paired with crispy chicken is always going to hit the mark when it comes to making a stir fry! Don’t let the need to coat the chicken put you off, I make this one as EASY as possible:
- The chicken coating is all done in one bowl.
- I’m also a bit lazy about frying the chicken. I fry it all in one go, rather than working in batches. It works just fine!!
- The peppers, plums and sauce are added in once the chicken is cooked. No need to scoop out the chicken and add it back in again later.
If you’re in a really pinch, shop-bought crispy chicken pieces also work great. You can bake or air-fry the chicken and then add to vegetables, plums and sauce in the wok.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients
Chicken Stir Fry
Sauce
📺 Watch how to make it
Pro Tip
If you like a lighter coating on your chicken, leave out the flour and egg and simply coat with the cornflour (cornstarch in the USA) and seasonings.
This is my happy Friday night dinner that I know everyone will devour!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled rice, egg fried rice or stir-fried noodles
- Extra lashings of sweet chilli sauce
- A nice scoop of Asian-style slaw – if you want to up the vegetables.
Just look at those colours and that golden chicken!!
Stay updated with new recipes!
Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos).
Chinese Plum Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast fillets chopped into bite-size chunks (approx 520g/1.1lbs)
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
- 1 egg
- 100g g (10 tbsp or 4/5 of a cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3 plums sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
Sticky sauce:
- 2 tbsp tomato puree (paste in USA)
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar (white wine vinegar will work too)
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) pineapple juice
To serve:
- boiled rice or egg fried rice
- shredded spring onions (scallions)
- chilli flakes
Instructions
- Start by mixing together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Then put to one side.2 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar, 3 tbsp light brown sugar, 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp chili flakes, 180 ml (3/4 cup) pineapple juice
- Place the chicken in a separate bowl and sprinkle on the cornflour. Mix together with a fork or your hands until the chicken is coated.3 chicken breast fillets, 2 tbsp cornflour
- Now break the egg into the bowl with the chicken, and use a fork to mix everything together thoroughly. There should be no egg pooling at the bottom of the bowl. If there is, discard it.1 egg
- Next, sprinkle on the flour, followed by salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika. Mix everything together with your hands. The chicken should be well-coated, but will also be sticky.100g g (10 tbsp or 4/5 of a cup) plain (all-purpose) flour, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp garlic salt, 2 tsp paprika
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until very hot.3 tbsp oil
- Add the chicken to the wok and cook on a high heat for 6-7 minutes, turning two or three times during cooking, until well browned. You may need to cook in two batches (I find I can do it in one batch so long as there are no more than 3 chicken breasts).
- Once golden brown, add the plum slices, peppers, and garlic. Cook, with the chicken for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the plum starts to soften.3 plums, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic
- Pour over the sauce you mixed earlier. Stir and bubble on a high heat until the sauce reduces by about a third (should take 2-3 minutes).
- Turn off the heat and divide between four bowls. Serve with rice and top with spring onions and chilli flakes.boiled rice or egg fried rice, chilli flakes, shredded spring onions
Video
Notes
Can I make it ahead?
You can prepare the sauce ahead, by mixing the sauce ingredients together and covering (store at room temperature or in the fridge). The chicken can be covered in the coating ahead of time (a few hours ahead maximum). The coating will be sticky, but it will crisp up when fried.Don’t like it spicy?
Replace the sweet chilli sauce with ketchup and leave out the chilli flakes. The kids LOVE it!Can it be refrigerated or frozen?
It’s best served right away, but yes, you can cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container.Defrost before reheating thoroughly (heat in the microwave or covered in the oven or in a wok/frying pan). The chicken won’t be crispy, and the vegetables will soften slightly, but it’s still tasty for a quick meal. Nutritional information is approximate, per serving, NOT INCLUDING rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
? Frequently Asked Questions
You can prepare the sauce ahead, by mixing the sauce ingredients together and covering (store at room temperature or in the fridge). The chicken can be covered in the coating ahead of time (a few hours ahead maximum). The coating will be sticky, but it will crisp up when fried.
Replace the sweet chilli sauce with ketchup and leave out the chilli flakes. The kids LOVE it!
It’s best served right away, but yes, you can cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container.
Defrost before reheating thoroughly (heat in the microwave or covered in the oven or in a wok/frying pan). The chicken won’t be crispy, and the vegetables will soften slightly, but it’s still tasty for a quick meal.
🍲 More fantastic Stir Fry recipes
This post was first published in April 2018. Updated June 2025 with new photos, video and some housekeeping.
Some of the links in this post may be 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.
Very delicious and rich in vitamins. My family and I enjoyed it
This recipe is one of my favorite. I once had left over plums and was looking for a chicken recipe with plums. This recipe was tangy and sweet with the right amount of spice. I loved it and have made it multiple times since. Sometimes I add jalapeno peppers for more spice, and if I have no pineapple juice I substitute juice from an orange.
Is tomato puree the same as tomato paste? If not, can it be substituted?
Hi Anne,
You can use tomato paste as it is generally the same as the tomato puree we get in the UK.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
All your Chinese chicken stir fry dishes have been amazing. I even use nectarines when I can’t find decent plums. I make one every 2 weeks, loved by all the family. Thankyou for sharing your recipes with me.
All your Chinese chicken stir fry dishes have been amazing. I make one every 2 weeks, loved by all the family. Thankyou for sharing your recipes with me.
I tried this recipe and it is delicious and the sauce is yummy but i am having a problem with the flour coating coming off in the pan and i then get lumps of flour in the sauce. Not a good thing. Please advise why this happens. I only used 2 chicken breasts chopped.
Thanks so much for your delicious recipes. I love them.
Hi Sapna, are you frying the coated chicken in the oil first? That should ensure the flour is fully cooked and crispy before the rest of the sauce ingredients are added.
Thank you for your reply Nicky :). I was not deep frying the chicken- i was pan frying in the way i thought was in the video- one pan with the frying and addition of the sauces. Do you think i should fry separately then add to the sauce?
Can the chicken be cooked in an Airfryer??
Nicky, those take away boxes you see on The Big Bang Theory are with Chinese food. Chinese restaurants always use them; however, when you get take away food from other places they are usually in plastic containers or even cardboard-type boxes, but not like the ones in The big Bang Theory; they are always with Chinese food.
I made this for a few guests for Chinese New Year. I even got the fake take away boxes from amazon too. 🙂 It was an absolute hit. Soo delicious, all my guests loved it. Thanks for the tasty memories 🙂
I know what I’m going to be cooking up this weekend! My hubby’s in for a treat! Love how you’ve presented this in a food box. Thanks for the recipe!
The recipes posted above are all enjoyable.