A vibrant dish with multiple layers of flavour, mouth-watering chicken is a classic of Sichuan cuisine. It makes a great cold dish for a festive feast.
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What is mouth-watering chicken
Sichuan Mouth-watering Chicken is one of the most popular dishes of Sichuan cuisine. Its Chinese name 口水鸡 (Kou Shui Ji) literally means “Saliva Chicken” which isn’t necessarily an appealing term, but it certainly conveys the appeal of this classic dish.
This delicacy is served as a cold appetiser in typical Chinese multi-dish meals, similar to how Scallion Oil Chicken and Bang Bang Chicken are enjoyed. I particularly like eating it on warm days.
It also makes a great addition to festive feasts, such as Chinese New Year meals. The colour of chilli oil corresponds with the New Year Red. It can be prepared in advance making your festive meal stress-free.
Prepare the chicken in 3 steps
Traditional mouth-watering chicken calls for a whole chicken served chopped with skin and bones. In my recipe, I use chicken legs instead. For the convenience of the diners, I usually remove the bones prior to slicing. Please feel free to alter the recipe based on your own preference. Chicken thighs and chicken wings are good options as they are also tender and tasty cuts of the chicken.
To cook the chicken legs, there are three steps which take approximately the same time (please adjust the length if you use a whole chicken or other cuts). This particular process will help to fully cook the chicken while still retaining its shape (without falling apart).
- Simmer the chicken in water with Shaoxing rice wine, scallions and ginger for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and allow the remaining heat to cook the chicken for a further 10 minutes.
- Cool the chicken in icy water for 10 minutes.
Make the chilli oil from scratch
Looking at the red, vibrant colour of the chilli oil in mouth-watering chicken, I guess you would immediately understand why this classic Sichuan dish is given such a name. When my 9-year-old son first saw this dish and asked its name, he commented: “It does make me drool!”
Not only does chilli oil make this dish appetizing, it also provides the key flavour: hot and super aromatic. I highly recommend that you make the chilli oil from scratch. It’s a versatile condiment that goes with many Chinese dishes. If you are passionate about Sichuan cuisine, it’s essential to have it in your cupboard. Check out my post on “Make your own chilli oil” in which you can find detailed instruction and a tutorial video).
Make a multi-flavoured sauce
Sichuan mouth-watering chicken is more than just a “hot” dish. It has a sophisticated, multi-layered taste: garlicky, gingery, umami (from the fresh chicken stock), savoury (from soy sauce), sour (from Chinese black rice vinegar), sweet, nutty (from peanuts & sesame) and mouth-numbing (from Sichuan pepper).
Sichuan pepper (花椒) is used in powder form in this recipe. However, I suggest you grind whole Sichuan pepper yourself instead of using a shop-bought one. Freshly toasted and ground Sichuan pepper has a much stronger taste and will make a noticeable difference. Please refer to my post on “Sichuan pepper and how to grind it” for instructions.
Other chicken recipes
Chicken is such a versatile ingredient, right? Here are some classic chicken dishes you might like:
📋 Recipe card
Mouth-watering chicken (Kou Shui Ji, 口水鸡)
Ingredients
Group 1
- 3 chicken legs
- 1 stalk scallions - cut in half
- 5 slices ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
Group 2
- 2 tablespoon raw peanuts/cashew nuts - skinless
Group 3
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 60 ml fresh chicken stock (made with the ingredients from Group 1) - ¼ cup
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon black rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt - or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground Sichuan pepper - see note 1
Group 4
- 1 stalk scallions - finely chopped
- 60 ml homemade chilli oil - ¼ cup, see note 2
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Cook the chicken
- Place all the ingredients from Group 1 into a pot filled with water (enough to immerse the chicken).
- Bring it to a full boil then turn the heat down. Leave to simmer with a lid on for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and keep the chicken in the pot (covered) for a further 10 minutes.
- Then transfer the chicken into a bowl of cold water (ideally with ice cubes). Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Toast the nuts
- While waiting for the chicken to cook, toast the peanuts/cashew nuts in a cold wok over a low heat until they become lightly brown.
- Leave to cool then crush them into small pieces.
Prepare the sauce
- Combine all the ingredients from group 3 (see note 1).
Assemble the dish
- Carefully remove the bones of the chicken legs. Slice the flesh into 1-2 cm wide strips.
- Pour the sauce into a serving plate. Lay the chicken in.
- Garnish with crushed peanuts/cashew nuts and scallions.
- Pour the chilli oil (see note 2) over and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Video
NOTES
NUTRITION
NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.
Hi! Can I keep this in the fridge and how long for? Should I keep it with the sauce or separate? Thank you!
Hi Kristerbel! You can keep the cooked chicken in the fridge for up to 3 days. Also, store the chicken, the sauce, and the toasted nuts separately. Happy cooking!
Lo faccio spesso d’estate! È proprio un piatto delizioso!
E lo propongo in tutte le stagioni se mi capita di avere ospiti, è un ottimo antipasto, apre lo stomaco 😋
Thank you, Paola, for trying out my recipe and leaving a lovely comment (Google Translate helped me to understand it 😊)!
Love your recipes, and looking forward to making this. I’ve not gotten my chili oil as red as yours in the picture with just a standard chilli oil recipe like yours. I do have some red clear oil using doubanjiang that I got from Fuchsia’s Sichuan. Obviously flavour profile is quite different, do you think that would still work? Any tips to get a nice, redder chilli oil? Just more chillies I guess, ha?
Do you mean the oil from a jar of Doubanjiang? That’s fine to use but the flavor would be different. My chili oil recipe uses both chili flakes and ground chili and the latter helps a lot in creating a vibrant red color.
So, it was actually very similar to your recipe, which I also make, except you also fry in doubanjiang and let it sit for two days before filtering and straining the oil to be clear and vibrant red. In Fuchsia’s Sichuan she calls it Red Spicy Infused Oil, 复制调和⽼油, where the addition of the doubanjiang is the “red”. It worked really well with your recipe, which was absolutely fantastic, thanks so much!
That sounds really delicious!
Thank you for the recipe. It looks delicious!
I was wondering how far ahead can you make this dish (would it be ok to prepare everything 2-3 days in advance,)? Can I assemble everything an hour before serving?
Yes, you can prepare the dish in advance. Here are some tips to ensure the best result. 1. Make sure to keep the cooked chicken in an air-tight container/bag to prevent it from drying out in the fridge. Also, take it out at least 1 hour before serving so it comes back to room temperature. 2. You can mix the sauce in advance but make sure to leave out minced ginger and garlic. Add them before serving. 3. Assemble the chicken and sauce right before you’re ready to serve. Hope this helps and happy cooking, Kate!
This recipe is wonderful. It was the first time I made it and it taste just as good as the the restaurant we usually buy it from. Thank you
Delighted to read your kind comment Anne! Hope you’ll find more inspirations on my blog.
I just cooked this today and it was delicious! Loved how tender the chicken is, and how the coldness of the chicken compliments the heat of the chili. I think my dish wasn’t as spicy as it was supposed to be due to making a last-minute chili oil from your recipe. But that’s okay for me because I can’t tolerate spiciness haha
Glad you enjoyed the dish Vivian! My one actually wasn’t as spicy as it may seem. It’s the combination of all flavors that makes the dish irresistible.
Tried the this recipe for the first time today with chicken legs – turned out to be perfection and restaurant-quality! This one is going on to my bookmarks for sure!
That’s great to know! Yes, it’s indeed a dish worth repeating.
Absolutely delicious. The flavours were perfect, we just can’t get nice dishes like this here in France!! I’ve followed you for ages on Instagram and so happy I made this chicken. The cooking and deboning technique has changed my life!
Thank you for your positive feedback Caroline! Very happy you’ve enjoyed the dish.
Greetings from British Columbia, Canada. I prepared this recipe on a whim yesterday. Turned out delicious. The instructions were so easy to follow. I was very impressed with the deboning technique in the video. Not quite as easy as it looks – I will keep practising. I’m fairly new to Chinese cooking but one of the first things I picked up was have everything prepared ahead of time, it makes the whole thing so much easier. Knowing that, why would I embark on this recipe unless I had chilli oil already made? Why indeed. Not too big a deal, just a small detour – The Red House Spice recipe was simple with excellent tips. I’ve made chilli oil before but burned the chillies so this time I was so careful with the temperature. Too careful. The oil was not hot enough to cook the chilli mixture. Batch #2 turned out fantastic! 😊. By now the kitchen was turned completely upside down and I was running late for an appointment. My wonderful husband was kind enough not to say anything about the state of affairs when I came home. I am so glad I found The Red House Spice. Wei’s instructions are clear and easy to follow. I can’t wait to try other recipes and learn new techniques. Thank you for the wonderful inspiration your site provides.
So lovely to hear your feedback Charlotte! I’m delighted you enjoy my recipes.