Shanghai Chicken

5 from 7 votes

Savory with a hint of sweetness, this Shanghai Chicken is an easy chicken recipe that’ll get you through busy weeknights. It only takes around 10 minutes to cook up after allowing the chicken to marinade.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Marinate30

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: servings

Calories: 353kcal

Author: Danielle Wolter

Ingredients

1 pound chicken thighs cut in 1 ½ inch pieces
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (Chinese Rice wine)
1 tablespoon soy sauce for the marinade
2 tablespoon vegetable oil or avocado, canola or peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce for the sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
2 teaspoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
2 tablespoons chicken stock
1 bunch green onions cut in 1 inch pieces (2 tablespoons chopped reserved for garnish)

Instructions

Combine the cornstarch, Shaoxing wine and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in a bowl and mix to combine.
Stir in the chicken and let marinade for 30-60 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, combine the remaining soy sauce, coconut sugar, chicken stock and five spice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Heat a wok (or a large cast iron or nonstick skillet) on high heat until it starts to smoke.
Add the oil, let it heat for 10 seconds, then add half the chicken.
Stir fry for about 2-3 minutes, until chicken is browned and a crust has formed on the outside.
Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add additional oil to the wok if needed (there should be at least 1 tablespoon of oil remaining).
Add the remaining chicken and stir fry in the same manner as the first. Remove and set aside.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the green onions (reserving the 2 tablespoons of chopped green onions for garnish) and cook for about 30 seconds.
Turn the heat back to high and add the chicken and the sauce to the wok.
Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coated the chicken.
Remove from heat and serve garnished with green onions, sesame seeds (optional) and white rice, fried rice or coconut jasmine rice.

Video

Notes

Stir fry in two batches. Stir frying the chicken in 2 batches ensures the pan stays hot and lets the crust form on the outside.
Feel free to marinate the chicken the night before to save some time cooking. Simply remove from the fridge for 10 or so minutes before cooking so the chicken is closer to room temperature and will cook evenly.
If you’d like to swap chicken thighs for chicken breasts, you’ll have to decrease the cooking time as it doesn’t take as long as thighs and it’ll dry out faster.
If your sauce is not thickening to coat the chicken, you can add a cornstarch slurry to it to help it out. Simply mix 1 tablespoon of cold water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and add to the sauce.

Nutrition