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!

Lots of you have been loving all the chicken recipes so far, and honestly, I can’t blame you. They’re fairly simple and so good over rice. It’s also the perfect way to enjoy that classic taste of Chinese takeout at home.

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:

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

Anyways, back to the recipe. Mongolian Chicken is crazy addictive (wow, I haven’t heard that before…). But seriously, I can’t get enough of this stuff.

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.

Mongolian Chicken Notes

I thought I should hilight some notes I had when trialing this recipe for all of you:

• Marinating the chicken: By marinating, I really mean prepping the chicken first prior to everything else.
  • This gives the chicken a chance to at least absorb some of the baking soda and Shaoxing wine prior to being fried. It’s a common practice in Chinese stir-fries (known as velveting) that helps tenderize the meat and optimize its texture.

• Dried chili peppers: Chinese dried chilies are one of the keys to make Mongolian Chicken look like one of those Chinese-American dishes from the restaurants.
  • They 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.

• Dark soy sauce and chicken powder: I added dark soy sauce to give the dish a darker, richer color. This is what was really lacking in a lot of online recipes I saw, most of which that looked a tad bit too pale.
  • Chicken powder helps to bump up the umami notes of the dish (yum), but you can also just use MSG if you prefer.

Instructions for Mongolian Chicken

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!

FAQs:

Can I use other types of protein for this dish?

Totally. Yes. If you want to go for a leaner, option, use chicken breast rather than dark 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 Mongolian Chicken, fry the chicken pieces at 400 F 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.

Looking for more tasty meal ideas? Here’s a couple more:

• Enoki Beef Rolls
• Classic Chicken Adobo
• Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork Belly)
• Chili Peanut Noodles