Dragon Chicken Recipe

Close-up of chicken strips cooked with bell peppers, black sesame seeds and scallions

Dragon Chicken is made with crispy batter-fried chicken strips tossed in a super yummy, sweet, and spicy sauce, sauteed with cashews and bell pepper. A fiery, flavor-packed dish served as an appetizer of side. Can be air-fried or deep-fried

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese, Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Servings

Calories 141kcal

Author Shinta

Equipment

Air Fryer or Wok

Ingredients

400 grams boneless chicken breast or thighs

For the batter

2 tbsp All-purpose flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1.5 tbsp rice flour
1 tsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp ginger garlic paste or use minced ginger and garlic
1 tsp Rice vinegar
1 tsp red chili powder
1 egg
1 tsp Vegetable or peanut oil

For the sauce

1 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
1 bell peper cut into cubes
1 large onion sliced
1 tsp Sriracha Sauce
1/3 cup cashews
1 tbsp honey
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp concentrated tomato paste

Instructions

Make the crispy batter-fried chicken

In a large mixing bowl, make the batter by mixing together all the ingredients listed under 'batter'.
Whisk the ingredients together until a smooth, lump-free batter is formed.
Add the strips of chicken to the bowl and toss them in the batter until the batter coats each piece well. You can use your hands to mix the chicken pieces well.
To Air Fry the chicken – Set the air fryer to air fry at 400 F for 10 minutes. Once the airfryer completes the preheating cycle (if your airfryer needs preheating), take out the basket and place the chicken strips in a single layer as you can see below. Let the chicken airfry for 7 minutes, then take out the basket and flip the pieces over to cook them evenly. After the cycle is complete, take out the air-fried chicken pieces.
To deep fry the chicken - Heat oil in a frying pan or wok or Dutch oven – the oil should be at least two inches in depth. Once the oil is hot, you can test it by adding a little batter. The batter should bubble and come up to the surface. This indicates it is hot enough for deep frying. Add the chicken pieces one by one. Fry in batches, and do not over-crowd the oil. After the chicken pieces are deep-fried, keep them aside on kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.

To make the Dragon Chicken sauce

In a separate wok, add a tablespoon of peanut or vegetable oil and add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are soft. Add bell pepper and sauté for a few minutes. Add sriracha sauce, concentrated tomato paste, honey and mix well. Turn off the heat.
Add the batter fried chicken pieces. Toss them well in the sauces in the wok, until the pieces are well coated with the sauces.
Your Dragon Chicken is ready to be served with fried rice or Jasmine rice!

Notes

While air frying the batter-coated chicken, make sure you are not overcrowding the air fryer basket. The chicken strips should be slightly spaced apart so that the batter crisps up evenly. Air fry in batches if necessary.
If deep-frying the crispy chicken, make sure the oil is hot before you add the chicken. Deep-fry in batches and do not overcrowd the hot oil.
Sriracha sauce can be substituted with any hot sauce of your choice. Rice Vinegar can be replaced with apple cider vinegar.
To reduce the amount of spice in this recipe, to make it kid-friendly, you can skip the sriracha or hot sauce entirely.

Nutrition