Black pepper chicken recipe
Black Pepper Chicken recipe that's better than Panda Express! Intensely flavored black pepper sauce stir-fried with crisp peppers and crunchy veggies. You'll fall in love with this dish after one bite!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 lb. chicken breasts dice to 1-inch cubes
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- ¼ tsp coarse sea salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
For the vegetables:
- 1 medium size red bell pepper dice to 1-inch cubes
- 6 oz. celery stalks sliced on diagonal, about 3-4 medium length stalks
- 3.5 oz yellow onion diced, about 1 small onion
For the black pepper sauce:
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper see notes
- ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder optional, see notes
- 1.5 tbsp peach, apricot, or orange jam I use St. Dal Flour brand, see notes for Whole30
- 1.5 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp chicken stock or vegetable stock
Other:
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup tapioca starch or potato starch
- Coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts to 1-inch cubes and in a bowl add and mix well with the seasonings from coconut aminos to garlic powder. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare other items.
- Prepare the bell pepper, celery, and onion in one bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix and stir-well the black pepper sauce.
- In a 10 to 12-inch saute pan, add the avocado oil and preheat over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Test the temperature with a wooden chopstick, if it shows bubbles around the chopstick when inserting it into the oil, the temperature is hot enough. You can also use a thermometer to reach 350F/177C.
- In the meantime, lightly coat the chicken with the starch. Toss well.
- Add the chicken pieces one-by-one into the pan. Turn up the heat to medium-high. Pan fry the chicken in a single layer without disturbing for about 3 minutes on the first side. Then use a chopstick or tong to cook the flip side for about 2 minutes. Transfer them out to a separate plate.
- You should have some oil left in the skillet, if not, add 1 more tablespoon of oil. Saute the pepper, celery, and onion with 2 pinches of salt over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
- Return the chicken to the pan and pour-in the black pepper sauce. Toss to coat the sauce over for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat. Transfer the food to a serving plate. Taste and season with more freshly ground black pepper or salt, if desired. Serve hot.
Notes
- Freshly ground black pepper
Ground black pepper in a can won’t do the job for this recipe. The flavor won’t be as intense. I recommend you grind the peppercorns in your own pepper mill. Use ⅔ tsp freshly ground black pepper if you don’t have Sichuan peppercorn powder for this recipe.
- Sichuan peppercorn powder (optional)
This is my personal touch to make the sauce extra fragrant. Sichuan peppercorn powder is milder in flavor than the whole peppercorns. It adds a nice floral flavor. The powder version is also a good substitute for people who aren’t used to the whole peppercorn flavor. I ordered mine on Amazon. You can definitely skip this ingredient if you don’t have it handy.
- Fruit jam (or pitted dates/prunes)
A little touch of sweetness to balance the heat and the piney flavor from the peppercorns. The fruit jam also acts as a thickener to round the sauce together. I use St. Dalfour brand apricot, peach, or orange will work well for the sauce. If you are on Whole30, use 2-3 soft and moist pitted dates or prunes and blend them with the rest of ingredients to make a sauce.
- Chicken stock
I use chicken stock to thin the sauce. If you aren’t on a specific dietary requirement, you can use Chinese shao hsing wine, Taiwanese michu, or Japanese mirin to replace the stock in the same quantity.
- Small batch cooking - this recipe is written for 1 lb chicken. If you do a larger batch, I recommend you pan fry the chicken in a separate batch so each piece can crisp up beautifully.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 621mg | Potassium: 654mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1161IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg