Szechuan Vegetable & Minced Chicken
This is a 15-minute recipe for stir-fry Szechuan vegetable & minced chicken. My mother has been making this dish (with shredded pork) since my childhood. Over the years, I have “refined” the recipe as I got lazier (cutting more and more steps with time). Now, it takes minimal time and effort to cook the dish! But don’t worry, the taste is not compromised in any way.
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I like to eat this dish especially with porridge. It’s like my comfort food for the soul, it is extra tasty when I lost my appetite or when it is raining. It also helped that this dish is inexpensive, effortless to make when the craving sets in. It is also ideal for meal prep whether it is planned or not – usually one will end up making a large pot. The leftovers certainly keep well in the fridge for many days.
Ingredient Short-cut: Shredded Szechuan Vegetable
This packet of preserved Sichuan vegetables which I always use, comes with the Sichuan veg already shredded and mildly seasoned. It saved me about half an hour of shredding the ball of Sichuan veg, and soaking them in water to reduce the saltiness. I used the shredded Sichuan veg right out of the bag. For any new brand, taste a piece of shredded preserved sichuan veg – if it is too salty, soak them in a large bowl of water for 5 minutes, do another taste test. Once you are satisfied, you can drain the soaked sichuan veg and set aside. Don’t soak for too long (5 minutes at a time), otherwise they will become tasteless (I learnt it the hard way).
Making Szechuan Vegetable & Minced Chicken
It’s really fuss-free. There is no need to prepare the szechuan vegetable. There is no need to marinate the minced meat. The steps are just:
- Fry garlic and ginger in a wokpan. Add minced chicken, light soy sauce (using less than usual) and white pepper powder. Stir fry until chicken is cooked on surface.
- Add the packet of shredded Sichuan vegetable, cut chillis and dark soy sauce. Stir fry together until the colour is well distributed. Garnish and serve.
Szechuan Vegetable & Minced Chicken Recipe
Leftovers keep well in the fridge easily for 4 days, making this dish ideal for meal prep. Reheat them on the stove or microwave oven.
Different brands of shredded Sichuan vegetable vary in saltiness. Taste test one piece of shredded vegetable – if it is too salty, soak them in a large bowl of water, and do a taste test every 5 minutes until you get the desired saltiness. Drain and set aside. To save time, I bought a packet of ready-to-use shredded Sichuan veg with saltiness that suited me, so I can skip the soaking process.
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp + 1 tsp oil divided
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 thinly sliced ginger minced
- 200g minced chicken (or pork)
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 dashes white pepper powder to taste
- 1 x 400g packet shredded preserved Szechuan (Sichuan) vegetable (四川菜/榨菜)
- 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce omit if you don’t want the dark colour
- 4 chilli padi cut; to taste
- coriander and/or spring onions to garnish
Directions:
- Cook chicken. Heat 1 tsp oil in wokpan. Add ginger & garlic, and stir fry briskly until aromatic. Add remaining oil, minced chicken and light soy sauce. Stir-fry until chicken is just cooked on the surface (opaque), while breaking up the mince to smaller pieces using the spatula.
- Add shredded Szechuan vegetable, chilli and dark soy sauce. Stir-fry until the colour is distributed and the contents are hot, about 2 minutes. Garnish with coriander and/or spring onions. This dish goes best with millet or rice porridge.