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This Hunan chicken is a deliciously spicy Chinese-style stir fry with tender strips of chicken, crunchy vegetables and a rich, garlicky chilli sauce.
Nicky’s Notes
Traditional Hunan chicken is a high heat chilli dish with a sour tang and complexity from fermented ingredients.
I’m leaning much more towards the Western-style version here, which is less spicy and a bit sweeter.
It uses doubanjiang (also known as toban djan) – which is a fermented chilli bean taste (in place of the fermented black beans and fresh chillies you’d see in a traditional recipe). We also have some sweetness from the oyster sauce plus a tiny bit of sugar.
I like to add in peppers and carrot to add a bit of crunch too.
It’s a gorgeous combination of spicy, savoury and slightly sweet flavours with that tender chicken.
If you’d like to take a look at a traditional Hunan chicken, Wei, over at Red House Spice does a great version here.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Hunan Chicken
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
- We’re marinating the chicken in the cornflour, white pepper and shaoxing rice wine here, to give the chicken more flavour and to help tenderize the chicken slightly. The cornflour also helps to protect the chicken during high heat cooking, so it stays juicy.
Toban Djan (also known as doubanjiang)
Toban Djan is a Chinese fermented chilli bean paste made with chillies, beans and salt. It has a rich, savoury flavour with a spicy kick and a slightly funky, fermented depth that adds lots of flavour to stir fries. It’s traditionally associated with Sichuan cooking and is one of the key ingredients that gives this Hunan chicken sauce its bold, punchy flavour. You can find it in Asian supermarkets, on Amazon, and sometimes in larger supermarkets.
It can be quite salty, so I tend to use low sodium soy sauce, so the overall dish isn’t too salty (although I didn’t have any when I took the ingredient photos!).
I use it in my Szechuan chicken recipe too.
🧑🍳 Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Marinate the chicken in cornflour, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and white pepper for 15 minutes. Mix the sauce ingredients together. Stir fry the chicken until golden, then remove from the wok. Stir fry the vegetables, return the chicken to the wok and add the sauce. Cook until glossy and heated through, then serve with rice.
Recipe Tips
- Get your wok nice and hot – A really hot wok helps the chicken develop a little golden colour and keeps the vegetables lovely and crisp.
- Keep the vegetables crunchy – Don’t overcook the carrot, pepper and spring onions. You want them to retain a little bite to contrast with the tender chicken and sauce.
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Pin ItMake ahead and Leftovers Guide
- You can make this recipe ahead and reheat in the wok, although I prefer it freshly cooked so the vegetables keep their lovely crunch.
- You can prepare the vegetables and mix the sauce ingredients ahead of time, then store them separately in the fridge.
- Keep the raw chicken refrigerated and marinate it for 15 minutes when you’re ready to cook.
- For leftovers, cool the Hunan chicken quickly, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a day. Reheat in a wok or frying pan over a medium heat, stirring regularly until piping hot throughout. Add a splash of water if the sauce needs loosening. You can also reheat in the microwave, stirring halfway through.
Hunan Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
The Chicken:
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 550 g (1.1lb) Skinless boneless chicken breasts (roughly 3 medium chicken breasts) sliced into thin strips
- 3 tbsp oil (I use avocado oil)
The Sauce:
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp toban djan (or doubanjaing) (fermented chilli bean paste)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 90 ml (1/3 cup) water or chicken stock
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
Vegetables
- 1 medium carrot peeled, sliced in half, then thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 red bell pepper chopped into bite-size chunks
- 8 spring onions (scallions) sliced into 1 inch pieces
To Serve:
- sesame seeds
- egg fried rice or boiled rice
Instructions
- Mix the cornflour, soy sauce, rice wine and white pepper together. Add the chicken and stir, then allow to marinade for 15 minutes.2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), 1 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce, 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine, 550 g (1.1lb) Skinless boneless chicken breasts, 1/4 tsp white pepper
- While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce by mixing all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or jug. Put to one side.1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp minced ginger, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp toban djan (or doubanjaing), 1 tsp sugar, 90 ml (1/3 cup) water or chicken stock, 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until very hot.3 tbsp oil
- Cook the chicken strips in the oil (turning occasionally) until cooked through and slightly golden. You can do this in two batches, but I usually manage this in one.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the pan. Place it in a bowl.
- Add the carrot and red pepper to the wok and stir fry over a high heat for 3 minutes, keeping everything moving. Then add the spring onions (scallions) and fry for a further minute.1 medium carrot, 1 red bell pepper, 8 spring onions (scallions)
- Add the chicken back to the wok and pour over the sauce. Fry together for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is hot and fragrant.
- Turn off the heat and serve over rice, topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.egg fried rice or boiled rice, sesame seeds
Notes
Can I make it ahead?
This stir fry tastes best when made right before serving as that’s when the chicken will be most tender.However, you can quickly cool, cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to a day in the refrigerator.
Reheat in the microwave until piping hot. Nutritional Information is per serving, without the serving suggestion of boiled rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
🍽️ What to serve it with
🍲 More fantastic stir fry recipes
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