My Garlic Chili Sizzling Chicken Pot 香辣啫啫雞煲 (Cantonese: heung lat je je gai bo) is my spin off the classic Cantonese Sizzling Chicken Pot. The words “啫啫” (je je) in the name is the sound of the sizzle, hence the name “sizzling” chicken pot. It all started in the alley restaurants 大排檔 (dai pai dong) in Guangzhou. They made various dishes using clay pots and clay charcoal burners at these alley restaurants. When they served the dishes, the server would remove the cover and the contents would still be boiling, making sizzling sounds. Consequently, people started calling these clay pot dishes “sizzling pots 啫啫煲”. They were not limited to chicken. There were beef brisket, liver and basically anything that had a sauce with garlic, ginger and onions.
I used half a bone-in chicken for this recipe because that’s how it’s usually served. But I think I much prefer eating it boneless. I added some dried red chilis and lots of garlic to add some kick to it. I made it quite mild so that it can be enjoyed by pretty much everyone. You can add some fresh chilis too to add more heat.
My Garlic Chili Sizzling Chicken Pot 香辣啫啫雞煲 is easy to make and I’ll show you how to make the chicken tender, juicy, flavourful and sizzling when you bring it to the dinner table. When I served this dish to my son, we had some leftover rice so I only reheated his usual amount of rice. He loved the chicken and the sauce so much that he quickly wanted another bowl of rice. I told him he’d have to wait because I have to reheat more. When I got back to the table, I saw him drinking the sauce like soup. He said he couldn’t wait for the rice! So when you try this recipe, make sure you make extra rice!
Looking for more ideas? How about my Chinese Steamed Fish 清蒸魚? Or for dessert, you could try my Asian Pear Peach Resin Sweet Soup 雪梨桃膠糖水.
Garlic Chili Sizzling Chicken Pot 香辣啫啫雞煲
Ingredients
- 800 g Bone-in chicken (1/2 chicken)
- 5 Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 bulb Garlic
- 1 Large Shallot
or 2 small ones - 2 stalks Chinese leeks or green onions
- 10 g Dried red chilis
- 2 slices Ginger
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp Oyster sauce
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Oil
- 200 ml Water
Ingredients for marinade:
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 ½ tsp Cornstarch
Instructions
- Marinate chicken with 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and 1 ½ tsp cornstarch. Mix well and marinate for 30 minutes
- Peel garlic and leave whole, smashed or roughly chopped. Set aside
- Slice shiitake mushrooms in half and set aside
- Slice shallots and 2 pieces of ginger. Set aside
- Cut Chinese leeks or green onions into 5 cm pieces. Set aside
- Heat wok at medium-high and add 2 tbsp oil
- Add garlic to the wok and stir-fry until golden colour and remove from wok. Leave the oil in the wok
You can also choose to deep-fry the garlic so that after braising, the garlic won’t break apart but you’ll need to use more oil to do this - Turn the heat to high and wait until the wok is hot, approx. 200˚C or 400˚F
- Add chicken to the wok and arrange in single layer. Do not move the chicken for 45 seconds or until the chicken starts to brown
- Flip the chicken over and leave for 45 seconds. Then, stir-fry for 20 seconds, turn the heat down to medium-high and remove the chicken from the wok
- Add another tbsp of oil if there is no more oil in the wok
- Add the ginger, shallots and Chinese leeks into the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute
- Add dried chilis and shiitake mushrooms.
- Add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp oyster sauce, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp sugar. Stir-fry and mix well
- Add chicken and garlic. Stir-fry and mix well
- Add 200 ml water and mix well
- Once the liquid starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium and cover with lid.
- Start heating an empty clay pot on medium high heat
- Stir the chicken after 3 minutes and cover again for 2 minutes
- Open the lid and stir the chicken. Turn the heat up to high to thicken the sauce for approx. 1 minute or until the sauce is at your desired consistency.
The chicken should be done by this time If your sauce is too runny, you can make a roux with 1-2 tsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp of water - Use a drop of water to test if the clay pot is sizzling hot
- Use a ladle to transfer the chicken over to the clay pot. The sauce should be sizzling. Cover with the clay pot lid
- Serve
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