I’ve been craving Sichuan since my favorite Sichuan Restaurant closed. The people there were nice and all the food tasted great. It was just like eating in a foreign land to me. The people eating there spoke a different language and all the food was nothing like I had anywhere else. The Sichuan dishes that they offered were made with Sichuan Peppercorns that do have an additive quality. Although those peppercorns are not hot they do numb the mouth so you can enjoy and tolerate more heat in your food. You enjoy spicy more and you crave spicy more.

I don’t know how to cook Sichuan so I look to others for their recipes.

The Hirshon Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken by The Generalissimo I came across (www.TheFoodDictator.com) sounded like a really great one so I decided to try it. I had all the ingredients for it except the essential Sichuan Green Pepper Oil. I figured the dish has enough going on in it so for I felt I could leave the small amount of that one ingredient out. I also didn’t use the optional suggested garnish thousand year oil eggs after all it was OPTIONAL and I honestly don’t think I’d enjoy thousand year old duck eggs. I know what they are.

This recipe is special and uses many special ingredients and I thought was too much work for working with two pounds of chicken so I doubled the recipe and used four pounds. I didn’t want to serve it with non-crispy skin on the bone like it normally is served so I removed the meat from the bone and the skin. The chicken comes out with a unique silken texture and leaves a delicious chicken broth that you can use in many ways. This is a full flavored dish but I didn’t find it so fiery with heat as Sichuan Dishes normally are possibly due to leaving out the essential Sichuan Green Pepper Oil. (Sorry Food Dictator I know that was a slight fail on my part) Or possibly due to the dried peppers not being as fresh as I want them to be. I also note I never ordered Sichuan Mouth Watering Chicken before so this dish also may not be meant to be as spicy as other Sichuan Dishes I tried before. I advise to prepare the recipe as written and if you desire more heat keep a blend of red chili flakes mixed with crushed heated Sichuan Peppercorns on the side and sprinkle  on to your liking.

This recipe makes about seven servings.

First you need to make the Sichuan Chili Oil (You need all but 6 tablespoons for the sauce that you make latter)

1 cup oil

2 bay leaves

6 dried chili pods

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 star anise

2 slices ginger

Heat all this up in a sauce pan. I brought it to a boil and then reduced to simer and let it go about 10 minutes and let it sit till it cooled. Pick out the spices and add……

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon 5 spice powder (that I made fresh 2 teaspoons heated Szechun peppercorns (you need to heat them till they smell fragrant or turn a slightly darker color), 8 star anise 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds – this all gets ground up)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Mix well and put a side

Now for the Chicken

4 lbs chicken on the bone with skin either breast or whole legs

2 Tablespoons shaoxing wine or dry sherry

4 scallions cut up

4 Tablespoons grated ginger

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

Place your chicken in a pot and add water till the chicken is covered. Add the seasonings. Heat up your pot to a medium boil and boil the chicken for eight minutes.

Then turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it sit twenty minutes. Start gathering lots of ice because you need to make a really big ice and water bath to chill the chicken and after about 15 minutes of chilling you will need to replace most of the melted ice with new ice. Picture below shows lots of ice that melted quickly. The Food Dictator states that the chicken must soak in the water and ice bath for at least an hour.

Now you prepare the sauce

10 Tablespoons Sichuan Chili Oil that you made

2 Tablespoons Sichuan pepper oil (green oil)

4 Tablespoons black zhenjiang vinegar

2 Tablespoons sesame oil (Kadoyo Brand is suggested)

4 Tablespoons shaoxing rice wine

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pinch salt

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

4 garlic cloves smashed

1 Tablespoon green onions minced

Finish with

3 thousand year old duck eggs chopped (optional)

Fresh Cilantro

toasted peanuts

toasted sesame seeds

The end result is very tasty. The next time I might prepare this kind of chicken in a Sous Vide to get the same result a little easier. It will be easier in a Sous Vide because it will be easier to pull the meat off a Sous Vide Chicken than from water bath chilled Chicken.

I also saved the broth from the chicken and used it to cook rice.  I also had enough left for soup.