Why You’ll Love This this Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken
This spicy, nutty chicken dish brings together tender shredded meat with crisp vegetables in a sauce that’s basically liquid gold – sesame, soy, and chili oil all mingling together like they were meant to be best friends.
The whole thing comes together in about 30 minutes, which means you can have restaurant-quality Sichuan flavors on your table faster than you can decide what to watch on Netflix.
Plus, since you’re basically just boiling chicken and whisking a sauce, it’s pretty much impossible to mess up, even if you’re the type of cook who burns water.
Ingredients List
You’ll need just a handful of ingredients to make this knockout dish, and chances are you already have most of them hanging out in your pantry.
- 1 lb chicken meat (1/2 small chicken or 1 pound of chicken breasts, bone-in)
- 1 cucumber
- Salt, as needed, to desalt cucumbers
- 1 medium carrot
- 1/2-1 teaspoon roasted Sichuan peppercorn
- 2 tablespoons sesame seed paste (can substitute chunky peanut butter)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (red or black preferred)
- 1 tablespoon Asian sesame seed oil
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon hot chili oil or 1-2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon shredded scallion, white part only
A few things worth mentioning about these ingredients from a health perspective:
- The chicken provides lean protein while the vegetables add fiber and vitamins without many calories
- Sesame seed paste delivers healthy fats and protein, though it’s calorie-dense, so a little goes a long way
- The sauce ingredients like soy sauce pack serious sodium, so if you’re watching salt intake, you might want to use low-sodium versions
- Chili oil and Sichuan peppercorns might actually boost your metabolism slightly, though don’t expect miracles
- Overall, this dish is pretty balanced nutritionally, especially if you serve it over rice or noodles to make it more filling
Step by Step Directions
Making Bang Bang Chicken is straightforward – you’ll poach the chicken, shred it into matchsticks, prep your vegetables, whisk up a spicy sauce, and assemble everything for a restaurant-quality dish at home.
- Cook the chicken: In a large saucepan, bring enough water to cover the chicken to a boil. Add the chicken and cook for 20 minutes until it turns white and is cooked through. Remove and let cool completely.
- Shred the chicken: Once cooled, remove all bones and shred the chicken into thin strips as close to matchstick size as possible.
- Prep the vegetables: Peel the cucumber and cut into thin slices to match the chicken size. Peel the carrot and cut into thin matchstick strips.
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame seed paste (or peanut butter), soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and hot chili oil or chili flakes until smooth.
- Assemble the dish: Arrange cucumber slices on your serving platter. Layer the shredded chicken on top, then sprinkle with roasted Sichuan peppercorns if using.
- Finish and serve: Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken and garnish with carrot strips and shredded scallion whites.
Having a sharp professional kitchen knife makes all the difference when shredding chicken into uniform matchstick-sized pieces and achieving precise vegetable cuts.
Substitutions and Variations
• Swap the protein: Don’t have chicken? This recipe works beautifully with leftover turkey, poached pork tenderloin, or even firm tofu for a vegetarian version.
Just make sure whatever you use can be shredded into those signature matchstick pieces.
• Play with the vegetables: Cucumber and carrot are classic, but thinly sliced bell peppers, julienned daikon radish, or crisp bean sprouts all bring their own personality to the party.
The key is keeping everything roughly the same size so each bite has perfect balance.
• Adjust the heat level: Too spicy for your crew? Cut the chili oil in half and add a touch more sesame oil.
Want more fire? Double down on that chili oil, or throw in some minced fresh chilies for extra kick.
• Switch up the sauce base: No sesame paste on hand? Chunky peanut butter works just fine, though it’ll give you a slightly nuttier, less traditional flavor.
Tahini can pinch-hit too, but you might want to add a pinch more sugar to balance its earthiness.
- Make it gluten-free: Use tamari instead of regular soy sauce, and double-check that your chili oil doesn’t contain any sneaky wheat ingredients.
- Try different garnishes: Toasted sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, or even crispy fried garlic can add textural interest on top of those scallion whites.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
Bang Bang Chicken loves company, and honestly, you want dishes that won’t compete with all that bold, spicy flavor going on.
- Steamed jasmine rice – This is your MVP side dish, soaking up every drop of that incredible sauce while giving your mouth a break between bites of heat.
- Cold sesame noodles – Keep the temperature theme going with frosty wheat noodles tossed in a light sesame dressing, because who doesn’t want more noodles in their life?
- Simple cucumber salad – More cucumber never hurt anyone, especially when it’s dressed with rice vinegar and a touch of sugar to cool things down.
- Pot stickers or dumplings – Whether you steam, pan-fry, or go full lazy with frozen ones, these little pockets of joy complement the textures perfectly.
- Hot and sour soup – If you’re feeling ambitious and want to lean into the Sichuan atmosphere, this tangy soup bridges the temperature gap between cold chicken and warm sides.
- Stir-fried green beans – Keep them crisp-tender and lightly seasoned, because sometimes you need something green and virtuous-looking on the table.
- Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce – Another veggie option that brings its own subtle flavors without shouting over your star dish.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Let me share the secrets that’ll make your Bang Bang Chicken absolutely sing, because honestly, the devil’s in the details with this one.
- Poach that chicken low and slow – Once the water hits a rolling boil, drop it to a gentle simmer when you add the chicken, because aggressive bubbling will turn your meat into rubber bands.
- Ice bath is your friend – Shock that cooked chicken in cold water immediately to stop the cooking process and keep the meat tender and juicy.
- Shred with the grain, then against it – First pull the chicken apart following the natural muscle fibers, then cut those strips crosswise for the perfect bite-sized pieces that won’t fall apart.
- Salt those cucumbers and wait – Sprinkle salt on your cucumber slices, let them sit for 15 minutes, then pat dry to remove excess water that would otherwise dilute your gorgeous sauce.
- Toast your Sichuan peppercorns – A quick 30-second dance in a dry pan will wake up those floral, numbing flavors that make this dish authentically tingly.
- Taste and adjust that sauce – Start with less chili oil than you think you need, because you can always add more heat but you can’t take it back.
- Make it ahead – This dish actually improves after sitting in the fridge for a few hours, letting all those flavors mingle and get acquainted.
- Room temperature serving – Pull it out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving, because nobody wants to eat cold chicken that tastes like the inside of your refrigerator.
Nutritional Facts
This protein-packed Sichuan dish delivers impressive nutritional value while keeping calories in check, making it a smart choice for health-conscious food lovers.
- Calories: Approximately 280-320 per serving (serves 4)
- Protein: 28-32 grams per serving from lean chicken breast
- Carbohydrates: 8-10 grams, primarily from vegetables and sauce sugars
- Fat: 14-18 grams, mostly from healthy sesame oil and minimal cooking fats
- Fiber: 2-3 grams from cucumber and carrot vegetables
- Sodium: 800-1000mg per serving (primarily from soy sauce)
- Sugar: 4-5 grams from added granulated sugar in the sauce
- Vitamin A: High content from fresh carrots
- Vitamin C: Moderate levels from cucumber and scallions
- Healthy fats: Sesame oil provides beneficial omega-6 fatty acids
- Low saturated fat: Less than 3 grams per serving
- Gluten considerations: Contains gluten from soy sauce (use tamari for gluten-free option)
- Capsaicin benefits: Chili oil provides metabolism-boosting compounds
- Antioxidants: Sichuan peppercorns and sesame seeds add protective compounds
Fun “Did You Know?”
Despite its violent-sounding name, Bang Bang Chicken actually gets its moniker from the rhythmic pounding sound made by traditional wooden mallets used to tenderize the meat.
I find it fascinating that this dish originated in Sichuan street food culture, where vendors would literally “bang” cooked chicken with wooden sticks to shred it into perfect strips.
The technique creates incredibly tender, uniform pieces that absorb the spicy-sweet sauce beautifully.
Traditional preparation involves no knives—just rhythmic pounding.
This method also explains why authentic Bang Bang Chicken has such a distinctive texture that’s difficult to replicate with modern cutting techniques.
