Not gonna lie. This was all about the name for me.
I mean… Dragon Chicken? How cool does that sound? Dragons are cool guys. I almost ran out to buy a blonde wig to channel my inner Daenerys to make this. Almost. But I was too hungry.
I live in Canada and this dish isn’t really a thing over here, so when I first heard about it I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. Anything named after a dragon has good to be good yes? I’m also a huge sucker for literally any type of fried chicken dish so let me tell you this was not a tough sell.
When I couldn’t find this at my local takeout I decided to figure out how to make it myself. Good decision. Very good decision.
I toyed with the sauce to get it just right for our tastes so I hope you like my version! If I can’t convince you to make this for yourself I don’t know what I’m going to do…
Open up my own takeout restaurant??? Have all you all over for dinner??? Really, I’m good either way.
How to cook the chicken…
Use whatever neutral oil you like to use, add about 1/2″ into a large heavy skillet and heat until a droplet of the batter bubbles up and sizzles when dropped in. I use my 12″ cast iron skillet for this and I cooked the chicken in 3 batches.
Gently add in the chicken pieces and make sure they’re separated and not too crowded. Let cook for about 2 minutes, then give them a turn and cook another 2 minutes. I usually just pull out a test piece and cut it open to make sure it’s done.
Anything Special You Need to Know?
*I used my rice cooker to make this rice and it is a very simple dump-and-go kind of recipe. You can cook your rice however you like though, just add in the extras I’ve added. I would have used my favourite Instant Pot Jasmine Rice, but the IP was otherwise occupied.
*You can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts for this and it will easily be just as good. I just really wanted strips for this and I think the breasts are easier to cut that way. If you use thighs just cut them into bite sized pieces.
*This recipe is moderately spicy by choice, but you can definitely amp it up if that’s your thing… add in some red pepper flakes to the sauce, serve with an extra drizzle of sriracha or some other hot sauce.
*Just found this little piece on Sriracha in beer. Crazy? Insane? The best possible thing to drink with this?
Recipe-ish…
Dragon Chicken with Sesame Rice
Ingredients
For the Sesame Rice:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
For the chicken:
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into strips
- Neutral oil for frying
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup water
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 Tbsp sriracha
- 1 tsp chili garlic paste
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch
For the stir fry:
- 1 sweet red pepper chopped
- 1/2 sweet onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup cashews
- Sliced scallions for serving
Instructions
- Make the sesame rice by adding the rice, sesame oil, butter, salt and water to a rice cooker and starting.*
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- To make the batter mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, egg & 3/4 cup water together in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Heat about 1/2” oil for shallow frying in a heavy skillet.
- Add the chicken into the batter and mix well.
- In batches, fry the chicken until browned and cooked through, draining cooked pieces on paper towel.
- Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the oil. Add in the onion, red pepper, cashews and garlic and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the sauce and simmer for about 2 minutes, until thickened.
- Add in the chicken and toss well.
- Top with the rice and sliced scallions.
Notes
Let me know what you think!
If you like this Dragon Chicken Recipe then I’d love you to check out my Singapore Fried Rice Recipe. I think you’ll love the flavours!
