6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular Chinese chicken dish? ›

General Tso's Chicken

A sweet, slightly spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in North American Chinese restaurants.

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

Ever notice how the chicken in stir fries at your favourite Chinese restaurant is incredibly tender? It's because they tenderise chicken using a simple method called Velveting Chicken using baking soda. It's a quick and easy method that any home cook can do, and can also be used for beef.

Velvet chicken is a Chinese cooking technique where boneless, skinless chicken pieces are coated in a mixture of baking soda, cornstarch, wine, and seasoning, then briefly cooked resulting in tender, velvety chicken that easily absorbs sauces. In some methods, egg white is also included.

The ideal old hen is at least 2 years old, preferably 3-4 years old—more time to develop the intense chicken flavor old hen is known for. Its older, stronger bones concentrate the savoriness and stand up better to stewing. The matured fat aromatizes into something altogether more… chickeny.

Though it's virtually flavorless, cornstarch is easily one of the most vital ingredients in a Chinese kitchen, with multiple uses, including thickening sauces, gravies, and soups.

Low and slow cooking methods like braising, stewing, or smoking are most effective when trying to create tender, succulent chicken.

Baking soda acts as a meat tenderizer by changing the physical composition of meat fibers. It raises the pH levels on the surface and makes it tougher (pun intended) for the proteins in the meat to bond.

The best tenderizer though, is a salted yogurt marinade. The salt has the same effect as in a regular brine, but the lactic acid in the yogurt further tenderizes the meat. A 15-minute marinade with one cup of yogurt and one teaspoon of salt makes for the most tender chicken breasts imaginable.

Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.

What is the most common Chinese cooking method? ›

Perhaps the most common method of Chinese cooking is stir-frying. A quick and simple method, all you have to do is chuck the ingredients in a wok and cook on high heat for a short period of time.

Steam Heating: Use hot water/soup stream to heat up the food. Some other cooking method includes soaking, dry mixing, smoking, pickling, and etc. The most common Chinese cooking methods include Stir-Frying, Deep-Frying, Shallow-frying, Braising, Boiling, Streaming, and Roasting.

A number of different styles contribute to Chinese cuisine but perhaps the best known and most influential are Cantonese cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine (specifically Huaiyang cuisine) and Sichuan cuisine.

Butter chicken (Murgh makhani)

Chinese Amazing Chicken is usually prepared by marinating the chicken in a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. The chicken is then stir-fried or pan-fried until it is cooked through. It is often garnished with green onions and sesame seeds for added flavor and presentation.

General Tso's chicken is a spicy and tangy dish made with a mix of chicken breast and thighs, while sesame chicken is a sweeter option made with succulent chicken thighs. Whether you're in the mood for something spicy or sweet, both dishes offer a delicious and crispy meal that's sure to satisfy your cravings.”