I could write a whole monologue about my love for this Dragon Chicken Recipe but all I’ll say…is…Dragon chicken is my all time faaaaaaavorite Indo-Chinese cuisine and lets just leave at that. Also, I would marry it if I could (True story)
So Indo-Chinese cuisines are basically just Chinese food, spiked with a little bit of Indian spices to make it more appealing to the average brown man. Apparently it was developed by a Chinese Community living in Kolkata for over a Century….(click here to read more)
Dragon Chicken is one kick-ass chicken dish, that you will fall in love with the moment you try it. It is a classic fried chicken-in-sauce kinda recipe, similar to the Asian Spicy Meatballs I did the other day. Although it does have chili oil in it, its surprisingly medium on the heat scale and has a more sweet after-taste. It’s usually eaten with rice or pasta. However, this talented chicken works just as well for starters if you keep the sauce on the drier side.
This recipe makes use of the chili oil, the recipe to which I posted earlier (spoiler: it takes only 10 mins to make)
I’ve made this recipe probably over 50 times by now, and I can easily say it has now become my go-to recipe whenever I make Asian food. If you aren’t sold by now to try this….well…:P you are one tough cookie. If you are going to try it…lemme give you a little step by step action.
STEP BY STEP PLAY DRAGON CHICKEN RECIPE
STEP 1 – PREPARE CHICKEN PIECES
First course of action is to cut the chicken in cubes and marinate it in eggs, corn flour, flour and seasonings.
I personally prefer keeping the chicken overnight for the marination…but I don’t always have time for that. So I just marinate it, stick it in the fridge for half an hour, meanwhile I prepare the other things and take it out and fry it.
Frying the chicken will probably take a little longer than regular frying because the color takes a little while to develop with this kind of a coating. So just fry them at high and keep an eye on that color.
Fun fact: My friend is a health nut and bakes these chicken cubes instead of frying. Turns up just fine as well.
Once you are done frying, you are gonna set the chicken aside and get started with part 2.
Dinner party tip: If you are making these for a party, you could totally fry the chicken wayyyy in advance. Like I am saying early morning for a dinner that night.
STEP 2 – GRILL BELL PEPPERS
In a wok or pan, add 1 tbsp of chili oil (I’ve linked the recipe for chili oil out right here, it takes hardly 10 minutes and is super easy to make I promise) and saute red bell peppers. Add those peppers to your chicken pile. Again….this can be done way in advance.
(Of course you can use any bell pepper that you have at hand, but red works visually very well with this dish)
STEP 3 – PREPARE SAUCE
Saute chopped garlic in chili oil until they turn golden brown.
After that, add 1 cup water and let that garlic water simmer. Just dump allllllll the sauce ingredients in. (starting with chili powder) and let it cook for a bit. That’s pretty much it!
STEP 4 – ASSEMBLY
All you gotta do now, is add the chicken back to the sauce. Let it cook for a little bit to warm up the chicken.This is the time where you decide what consistency of the sauce you want to keep. Let it cook a bit more if you want it to be dry.
Dish out the chicken, sprinkle a little sesame seeds and green onions, dig right in.
RECIPE SUBSTITUTES, FIXES AND REMIXES
-
Dragon beef
You can use the same recipe to make Dragon beef. Just boil the beef pieces in garlic ginger, salt and pepper. Cook for 30 to 40 mins or until the beef gets tender, after that, follow the same steps for dragon chicken. -
Healthier substitutions
Bake the chicken instead of frying. Coat in oil and Bake at 200 c for 15 minutes. Flip over and do for another 4 minutes. -
To make a more saucy dragon chicken
Add an extra cup of water and 1 tbsp of corn flour and an extra tbsp of honey. -
A party starter
To make this chicken as a starter, cut the chicken in slightly larger cubes. Also, keep the sauce on the drier side by over cooking for 2 3 extra minutes. And finally, serve with tooth picks inserted in the chicken cubes - Pairing the Dragon
Dragon chicken is usually eaten with fried rice or chow mein noodles. Throw in a quick Cashew Salad and you’ve got yourself a dinner menu.
More Indo-Chinese and Pan Asian Recipes
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
Dragon Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marination
- 500 gm boneless chicken cut in cubes
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp White pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic powder or garlic paste
- 1 large Egg
- 2 tbsp Corn flour
- 2 tbsp Flour
- 2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
- Oil for frying
Sauce
- 1/4 cup chili oil
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 tbsp Honey or brown sugar
- 1 tsp Red Chili powder
- 1 pinch Orange food color
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- Sesame seeds to sprinkle
- 1 big red bell pepper cut in square
- 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
- 1/3 cup Tomato paste
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Marinate chicken cubes with all the ingredients for chicken marination and cover and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours or overnight
- Deep fry the marinated chicken until golden brown and set aside.
- In a wok add a tbsp of chili oil and saute the bell peppers at high flame, set it aside.
- In the same wok, add the remaining chili oil and fry chopped up garlic until brown.
- Add in chili powder, stir a bit and add 1 cup of water.
- When the water starts to boil, add all the remaining ingredients for the sauce and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Now add your fried chicken and bell peppers to the sauce and coat evenly.
- Cook for another 3 mins to warm up the chicken and dish out.
- Top with sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
Coleccion De Fotografia says
Wow, the foodie in me is shouting this is pure glitter and gluttony, LOL. Thanks for sharing am sure every dish is worth the try.
Wajiha says
haha I loveeeeeee this comment! 🙂 I hope you try some and let me know how they turn out for you
Elease Colcord says
This looks incredible! I think this may go into the rotation!
Wajiha says
thankyou! Yes! that is exactly what happened with me. Once I made them, they became a regular at my household
Luna S says
This sounds like something my husband would love! He enjoys spicy chicken.
sheqoz.com says
Definitely drooling right now, I’ll try this recipe over the weekend. Looks delicious ❤
Romualdo II Atibula says
OMG. I love chicken. I would love to try this at home!
aisasami says
This looks delicious! You can control the spiciness. My stomach can’t handle a lot of spicy foods.
TheKitchenDoc says
I love indo chinese cuisine too. Will definitely try this recipe. Thanks!
Wajiha says
that makes two of us 🙂 awesome!
The Travel Bunny says
Perfect timing! On Sunday I choose what I’ll cook the next week. This looks delish, so I’m gonna give it a go. Thanks!
Wajiha says
I am so happy!! Hope it turns out great!
Ale says
this looks delicious! it made me hungry just reading about it
Wajiha says
hahah 🙂 That would mean the picture had its effect 🙂
Anna says
That looks delicious, and the ingredients and recipe are reasonable. I am going to try this next time we have a kid-free supper!
Wajiha says
thnx. I agree some recipes have a few complicated ingredients and they still intimidate me to be honest. I’ve kept the ingredients here as simple as possible. Hope you like it
Keshia Richmond says
Thanks for explaining how chili oil is used in Indo-Chinese cuisine. I never knew.
Wajiha says
oh its a great little condiment! There’s a whole separate post on chili out. You can check it out here
Anonymous says
I’m a vegetarian but this looks pretty good!
Wajiha says
You can try the same recipe with Cauliflower 🙂
Samar says
It looks so awesome, so how much time did it take to prepare? I mean preparing for the complete dish?
Wajiha says
Thnx. Between marinating, cutting and frying, it takes roughly about 30 to 45 minutes. If you want to marinate the chicken overnight, then it’ll take you and extra 8 hours 🙂
lm10adhi says
Looking super delicious. Even the name of the dish is strange. Pics are awesome. I haven’t tried it yet. Will share with my friends and family. Thanks for sharing.
Wajiha says
Thankyou! much appreciated!
JK Darling says
Whenever I get a chance, I am gonna try this. It looks yummy!!
Wajiha says
oh awesome!
Cyndi Buchanan says
That looks amazing!! Almost makes me wish I wasn’t a vegetarian. : P
Wajiha says
hahaha! You can make the same recipe substituting chicken with Cauliflower 🙂
Tracy Marie says
Wow, I’m drooling, this looks fantastic. I’ve never made anything quite like this before.
Wajiha says
really? That’s so cool! If you’ve had Chinese food before, you will love this one.