Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken (口水雞)

Mouthwatering chicken, also known as ‘口水雞’ (kǒu shuǐ jī) is a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine. It consists of poached chicken served cold and bathed in a flavourful and spicy sauce made from chilli oil, Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce and more aromatic sauces and spices. The sauce is rich, spicy, numbing, and don’t say I didn’t warn you…… so addictive!

There’s a noodle chain restaurant in Hong Kong called TamJai Samgor (譚仔三哥), and one of their popular side dishes was this chicken. Every time I go to TamJai after school, for dinner, or while hanging out with friends, we always order a side of 口水雞. It’s just. So. Damn. Good.

Make sure to scroll through this post and read my cooking tips for the best juicy, tender, poached chicken. Okay bye. Enjoy! 🙂

ingredients:

for poaching the chicken:

• 4 chicken thighs (~200g per chicken thigh)
• 5 slices ginger
• 2 green onions, chopped in half
• 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
• 1 tsp salt

for the sauce:

• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 5 tbsp homemade chilli oil (or your favourite chilli oil)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn oil
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 5 tbsp chicken broth
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1.5 tbsp roasted peanuts

optional, but recommended:

• coriander (for garnish)
• green onions, chopped (for garnish)
• sliced cucumbers
• roasted peanuts

steps:

poach the chicken:

1. In a large pot, fill enough water to submerge the chicken thighs. Add ginger slices, green onions, Sichuan peppercorns, Shaoxing cooking wine, and a pinch of salt.
2. Bring water to a boil and add chicken thighs. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer (the water should be bubbling but not too vigorously).
3. Poach the chicken over low heat for 10 minutes, then switch off the heat entirely (keeping the lid closed) and let the residual heat gently cook the chicken for another 10 minutes. To check if the chicken is fully cooked, insert a chopstick into the thickest part of the chicken; the juices should run clear.
4. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pot and dunk it in cold water. Once cooled, remove the bone from the chicken and cut into slices.

prepare the sauce:

1. In a bowl, combine minced garlic, chopped spring onions, chilli oil, light soy sauce, sesame oil, Chinese black vinegar, white sugar, Sichuan peppercorn oil, dark soy sauce, sesame seeds, roasted peanuts and a few spoons of broth from the poached chicken earlier.

assemble the dish:

1. [Optional] Place sliced cucumbers on a serving plate.
2. Place the sliced poached chicken on top of the cucumbers.
3. Drizzle the sauce generously over the chicken, making sure that each piece is coated with the flavourful sauce.
4. Garnish with chopped green onions, coriander, crushed roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds if desired.

tips:

1. How to make a soft, juicy and tender chicken. For this recipe, I am using chicken thighs, around 200g per thigh. So the timings might be different if you are using a whole chicken or different cut. Make sure to simmer the chicken on low heat for 8-10 minutes (water should be bubbling, but not vigorous), then turn off the heat (keeping the lid closed) and let the chicken submerge in residual heat for another 8-10 minutes.
2. Dunk the cooked chicken in an ice bath. This immediately stops the cooking process helps the chicken to retain its moisture, so the chicken will have a juicy and tender texture!
3. Garnish with coriander, green onions and crushed peanuts. I forgot to do this in my video, but I highly recommend you garnish the dish with coriander, chopped green onions and peanuts! Also, adding sliced cucumbers to this dish would give an extra refreshing crunch. Highly recommend.

check out more cold asian dishes!

• Thai Beef Salad (nam tok)
• Korean spicy cold noodles (bibimmyeon)
• Spicy mala century eggs

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