![]() ![]() Both Hunan Chicken and Szechuan Chicken are characterized by their savory, hot and spicy flavors and generous use of chili peppers and garlic. Szechuan cuisine comes from the Sichuan province in China and Hunan Chicken comes from Hunan province to the west. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUNAN CHICKEN AND SZECHUAN CHICKEN? Now everyone can have their favorite Hunan Chicken they can enjoy any night of the week. If you enjoy spicy foods, you will LOVE this Hunan Style Chicken and if you don’t love spicy foods you will still LOVE this Hunan Chicken – simply tone down the spiciness by adding less peppers or chili paste. This Hunan Chicken is less sour and more sweet than authentic Hunan Chicken as the Chinese American restaurant versions have altered the Chinese favorite to suite the American palate. ![]() The sauce is nothing short of mesmerizing due to the layering of flavors. Red peppers are combined with garlic, ginger, oyster sauce and soy sauce to create a salty, savory, spicy stir fry with a touch of sweetness from brown sugar and sour tanginess from the ketchup and chili bean paste. In the US, Hunan Chicken has come to mean thin slices of silky, tender, velvety chicken breasts stir fried with a rainbow of crisp-tender veggies in spicy, complex Hunan sauce. Hunan cuisine is characterized by its bold, slightly tart, spicy flavors from fresh chili peppers, garlic, and shallots. Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine (the other eight are: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan and Zhejiang.). Hunan Chicken originated in the Hunan province of south central China. You can use my “jump to recipe” button at the top of the page to skip straight to the recipe. Now, I’m going to break down this Hunan Chicken recipe and try and answer all your questions as well as offer some tips and tricks. Budget friendly: feed the entire family for the fraction of dining out with the bonus of customizing the heat and veggies just how you like.It is then lightly dusted in cornstarch and flour before lightly pan frying so it emerges juicy with texture to capture the intoxicating sauce. JUICY AND TENDER: you will LOVE the texture of the chicken! The marinade isn’t just a marinade but utilizes the easy restaurant velveting technique of adding baking powder to produce smooth, tender, melt-in-your-mouth chicken that makes Chinese chicken so tantalizing.FLAVOR! the Hunan sauce is an explosion of layers of flavor made from oyster sauce, soy sauce, chili bean paste, chicken broth, rice wine, red peppers and aromatic garlic and ginger.The rainbow of fresh crisp-tender veggies is completely flexible as well – making it an irresistible, healthy clean-out the fridge dinner! Versatile: use can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs or even replace the chicken with beef, pork or shrimp.Nutritious: this Hunan Chicken recipe boasts lean chicken breasts and more veggies than most Chinese favorites for a powerhouse of nutrients.QUICK and easy: marinate the chicken, chop the veggies, whisk together the Hunan sauce, then stir fry! The whole meal can be on your table in less than 45 minutes with restaurant delicious results.You can even swap the peppers for Asian chili sauce so it’s easier to add heat to taste. Custom spice level: you can keep this Hunan Chicken 100% family friendly by leaving out the peppers or make it as spicy as you like by adding more to taste.To make, simply whisk the marinade ingredients together, marinate the chicken while you chop your veggies and whisk the Hunan sauce ingredients together – that’s it – the actual cooking time is less than 15 minutes! So, please don’t cheat yourself out of this INCREDIBLE Hunan Chicken – it’s an exotic intoxicating complex flavor bomb in every mouthful and destined to become a new favorite! REASONS TO LOVE THIS HUNAN STYLE CHICKEN: Ultimately, all you need is the sauce ingredients and the chicken and veggies are super flexible. This Hunan Chicken recipe has a long ingredient list, but I promise the recipe is EASY – most of the ingredients are just dump and whisk. The complex flavors of the sauce are out of this world and the thinly sliced velveted chicken will have you drooling. If you aren’t familiar with Hunan Chicken, you will fall in love with the medley of vibrant, fresh crisp-tender veggies dripping in the intoxicating spicy, savory Hunan sauce. Some of our favorites include Chicken and Broccoli, Beef and Broccoli, Mongolian Beef, Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken and of course, Hunan Chicken. I love making Chinese food at home and have been doing it more than ever these past few months since we’ve been on lockdown. PIN THIS RECIPE TO SAVE FOR LATER HUNAN STYLE CHICKEN ![]()
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