Place the chicken pieces in a bowl with the rest of the marinade ingredients. Stir together, cover and marinade for 30 minutes (or up to a couple of hours – place in the refrigerator if marinating for more than 30 minutes).
8 boneless chicken thighs, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine, ¼ tsp white pepper, 2 tbsp cornflour
Heat the oil (reserving 1 tbsp for later) over a medium-high heat in a large frying pan.
240 ml (1 cup) sunflower oil
Add the chicken, a piece at a time (you may need to work in 2 batches), and cook for 4-5 minutes, turning a couple of times, until golden.
Remove from the pan and place on a plate.
Heat the reserved 1 tbsp of sunflower oil along with 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a wok over a medium-high heat.
1 tbsp sesame oil
Add the onion and dried chillies and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the onion starts to soften slightly.
1 onion, 25 dried red chillies
Add in the ground Sichuan peppers and fry for a further minute.
1 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
Add in the garlic, ginger, and spring onions and stir fry for a further 30 seconds.
3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger, 5 spring onions
Add in the soy sauce, rice wine, chilli bean paste, and sugar. Stir together and fry for another minute.
Add in the cooked chicken and toss everything together, heating for a further minute or two until the chicken is hot.
Serve with boiled rice.
Video
Notes
Note 1:Chilli Bean Paste - known as toban djan or doubanjiang – if you can’t find this, you can replace with Gochujang (a Korean Chilli paste that’s little sweeter, but still good), or at a push, hoisin sauce mixed with a good pinch of chilli flakes.Nutritional information is approximate and is per serving NOT including rice. I've accounted for 60ml (1/4 cup) of oil being absorbed during the cooking process.