If You Like Spicy Dishes, This Will Become Your Go-To
Making this Szechuan dish at home is a revelation
Daniel, one of our editors, wrote about this Szechuan-spiced fried chicken in my newsletter, and it looks too damn good to not share with you here. You can cook this recipe any time of year, but it might qualify as one of those dishes that once you read about it, you feel compelled to make it right now. Here’s Daniel.
— Mark
I love Szechuan food. All of it. But there’s one dish in particular that I crave and eat with disturbing frequency. It’s called la zi ji, deep-fried boneless chicken morsels and an insane amount of dried red chiles (they’re there for flavor, and though you’re technically not supposed to eat them, I usually do) stir-fried with lots of garlic, ginger, and Szechuan peppercorns. It’s also known as Hide and Seek Chicken because you spend so much time sifting through the peppers in search of chicken. It’s an incredible dish, and this isn’t it.
What it is is “classic” Southern-style (buttermilk-brined, flour-dredged) fried chicken parts dusted with a Szechuan-inspired spice mixture as soon as it comes out of the oil. The spice mix is ground red chiles (I use the Korean version, gochugaru), ground Szechuan peppercorns, and some cumin, sugar, and salt. Full disclosure: In one version, instead of salt I used…
