Mongolian Chicken

Mongolian Chicken features crispy chicken coated in an aromatic, savory, and sweet sauce. It’s perfect for both lunch and dinner as a tasty, satisfying meal.

We’re back with another Chinese-American meal: Mongolian Chicken!

The sauce is savory, sweet, and slightly spicy from the chilies, which perfectly coat the crispy chicken pieces. Serve this with rice or some steamed/stir-fried veggies and you’ll see what I mean.

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the chicken pieces with Shaoxing wine, baking soda, and cornstarch. Mix until all the chicken pieces are well-coated.

Heat your frying oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Shallow fry the coated chicken in batches for about 6-8 minutes, or until fully-cooked through. Set aside.

Drain your skillet or wok, reserving about 1 tbsp of the cooking oil. Add in the white parts of the scallions, garlic, ginger, and red chilies. Saute the aromatics for about 20-30 seconds or until fragrant.

Pour in the prepared sauce and let simmer for 1-2 minutes minutes until thickened.

Once thickened, add in the cooked chicken pieces, the green parts of the scallions, and sesame oil. Toss to combine until the chicken is fully coated in the sauce.

Serve with a bowl of rice or a side of veggies. Enjoy!

Ingredients and Substitutions

*The Recipe Card below includes all the full measurements for these ingredients!

Chicken: This recipe uses chicken thighs for a more juicy and tender outcome, but feel free to use chicken breasts as a leaner option.

• Substitutes: You may substitute the chicken with proteins such as thinly-sliced beef, pork, shrimp, or even tofu.

Shaoxing wine: Also known as Chinese cooking wine, this adds a slight salty, savory, and umami taste in marinades and sauces.

• Substitutes: You can replace this with either standard cooking wine, dry sherry, or sake. You may also omit the wine without altering the flavor of the dish too much.

Baking soda: Baking soda helps to tenderize the chicken. We only use a minimal amount in this recipe to avoid a bitter taste!

• Substitute: You can omit this ingredient entirely if you prefer.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch is one of the staples in velveting -a Chinese cooking technique where meat is marinated in a cornstarch and baking soda mixture in order to keep the proteins tender and lock in its juices when stir frying.

• Substitutes: You may also use potato starch as the next best option. All-purpose flour can work in a pinch.

Green onions, garlic, ginger: Try to use fresh versions of the garlic and ginger whenever possible. If powdered aromatics are all you have, add it directly into your sauce (rather than sautéing) to avoid burning.

Dried chili peppers: These don’t pack as much heat as you think, but they do lend some mild spice as they soften in the sauce. You can break a couple of them open if you’d like your sauce to be bit spicier.

• Substitutes: Feel free to use dried chili flakes or even chili oil to add more kick. You could also go for fresh chilies if you’d prefer a sharper and more pronounced spice to the dish.

Sesame oil: Sesame oil will provide the needed toastiness and nuttiness that will help to bring all the flavors together.

Brown sugar: Sugar helps to balance out the savory and salty flavors of the sauce so the flavors don’t fall to salty or flat. Some may choose to leave it out or reduce the amount according to preference.

• Substitutes: You can also use white sugar or honey as quick replacements.

Soy sauce, Dark soy sauce: A combination of these sauces provides a rich and complex sauce to your chicken. The dark soy sauce in particular is a tad sweeter, and gives the final dish a dark, caramel color.

Chicken powder: By powder, I mean those instant chicken stock mixes that pack tons of umami and savory notes. You may also just use equal amounts of MSG!

Cooking Tips

Have all your ingredients ready to go: Be sure to have your ingredients ready to go! The cooking process goes fast, and if you’re scrambling to prepare the sauce while your aromatics are frying, you might risk burning them as a result.

Customize your sauce: You can always adjust the sauce according to taste. Feel free to add extra chili flakes or chili oil to add a bit of spice, reduce the sugar to control how sweet it is, or even double the sauce measurements to have extra to pour over your rice or noodles!

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I store leftovers?

You can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days (perfect for meal prep!). To freeze, you could also pack the chicken in freezer-friendly ziplock bags for up to 3 months.

To reheat, simply microwave or heat on stovetop until the sauce and chicken are fully warmed-through. If frozen, be sure to let the chicken defrost first prior to heating.

Can I add extra veggies?

Definitely. To make the dish more filling and with more fibre, feel free to throw in chopped mushrooms, carrot, celery, or broccoli to stir fry along with dish!

I’d recommend cooking these veggies beforehand (either via steaming, microwaving, or stir frying) before mixing it along with the chicken and sauce.

Can I use other types of protein for this dish?

Yes, if you want to go for a leaner option, use chicken breast rather than dark chicken thigh meat.

You can also substitute the chicken for beef (for a classic Mongolian Beef), or even firm tofu as a vegetarian option.

Can I air-fry the chicken?

Yes! To air-fry, fry the chicken pieces at 400F for about 10-15 minutes, flipping or shaking them halfway for even cooking.

You can spray the chicken with a bit of oil to help with crisping. You might also need to fry these in batches if you find some pieces are overlapping with each other too much that could interfere with proper cooking.

So far, this is the seventh recipe from our classic takeout series, and if you’re wanting to check out the rest, I’ve listed a couple below:

• Sesame Chicken
• Chinese Egg Fried Rice
• Sweet and Sour Pork
• Crab Rangoon