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Love a classic stir-fried dish? This Yu Hsiang chicken recipe changes up the usual shredded pork using shredded chicken. It is full of diverse flavors and textures with its sweet and tangy sauce and an assortment of vegetables.
What Is Yu Xiang Rou Si?
Yu Xiang Rou Si (鱼香肉丝) is a classic Sichuan dish typically made from shredded pork meat, green and red chili peppers, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and soybean paste, to name a few. In translation, it means fish-fragrant flavor or fish-fragrant shredded meat. Interestingly, despite its name, this dish does not contain fish.
The term “fish” only refers to its special flavor profile that resembles the umami and savory flavors of fish. It is full of spicy, sweet, sour, and nutty flavors thanks to the sweet soybean paste, peppers, garlic, and an amazing sauce. The sauce is a mix of soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, and oyster sauce.
Today’s recipe: I opted for chicken instead of pork to prepare Yu Hsiang Chicken, also known as Yu Shiang Chicken.
I also add in some shredded wood ear mushrooms and green onions for extra texture. If you look for this in an English menu in Chinese restaurants, it is often referred to as shredded pork/chicken/meat with garlic sauce. Have this for lunch or dinner with a bowl of warm white rice.
All About The Ingredients For Yu Hsiang Chicken
Personalize this dish with countless alternatives you prefer, from types of meat to seasonings and vegetables. In this section, I talk about the ingredients to use and how to prepare them. Use this guide before proceeding with the steps.
- Shredded meat: Shredded meat is key to shortening the cooking time and absorbing the flavors better. You can use shredded chicken, pork, or beef. I used chicken breasts and sliced them into strips by cutting along the grain. Thin or thick strips are fine. To make it easier to slice, I recommend partially freezing the chicken until firm. Want to make this vegetarian or vegan? Use soy meat strips or extra firm tofu strips.
- Marinade: Before frying the chicken, it has to be marinated first. I marinate the chicken strips with cooking wine, egg white, and cornstarch.
- You can substitute cornstarch in equal amounts with potato starch.
- If you don’t have cooking wine such as Shaoxing rice wine, you can use dry sherry, meat or vegetable broth, red wine vinegar, or alcohol-free wine.
- Egg white helps make the strips thick and velvety, as well as lock in moisture. You can substitute this with baking soda or more cornstarch.
- Sweet and tangy sauce: To make the sauce, you will need light soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar(Chinkiang vinegar), sugar, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and water.
- Black vinegar is a Chinese black vinegar with a fruity and umami taste and a hint of licorice. I usually use Chinkiang vinegar. It is bolder and more complex than a regular white. You can imitate its taste with a mix of equal parts balsamic vinegar and white vinegar.
- For more umaminess, use light or dark soy sauce and adjust to taste. You can also swap this for tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce.
- Another flavor enhancer for this sauce is oyster sauce, which imparts a taste of soy sauce and barbecue sauce. If you need a substitute for oyster sauce, use hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, kecap manis, Worcestershire sauce with soy sauce and sugar, oyster-flavored sauce, or fish sauce.
- Counter the salty flavors by adding sugar. Use white sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Other optional ingredients to adjust the taste of the sauce are sugar and chili oil.
- I recommend doubling the amount of the sauce if you want a more saucy dish to drizzle some on your rice as well.
- Seasonings and vegetables: There are many pantry-friendly vegetables and seasonings to choose from. Not only is the meat cut into strips, but these ingredients as well. This stir-fried dish requires all the ingredients to be cut into shreds to cook it quickly. I used chopped green onions, minced garlic, chopped Thai chili peppers, sweet soybean paste, shredded wood ear mushrooms, and shredded green and red chili peppers.
- Other recommended ingredients to add are shredded carrots, shredded bell peppers, bamboo shoots, shredded potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms.
- Aside from regular chili peppers, you can also use pao la jiao pickled red chili or Thai pickled red chili. However, you can omit this from the recipe if you prefer a low to mild heat.
- Soybean paste imparts a deep, umami, salt, and sweet taste. You can use doenjang, doubanjiang, or fermented chili bean paste. Another substitute you can use is miso paste. However, you may need to add some chili if using miso paste since it lacks the spice.
- If using dried mushrooms, soak it in hot water first and pat dry before chopping.
- If using bamboo shoots, drain the liquid completely and cut it into shreds as well.
- Oil: Use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil for a healthier option. If you want a neutral taste, go for peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil. If you prefer an oil with a higher smoke point, use avocado oil, peanut, canola, or corn oil.
Ingredients And Kitchenware To Prepare
You only need to prepare a few basic kitchenware, such as a non-stick pan, knife, and mixing bowl. I recommend a non-stick pan to preserve the outer coating of the chicken strips without sticking to the pan. I know slicing all the ingredients into shreds can be a lot of work, so if you have a kitchen shredder or a multifunctional kitchen cutter, that would make it a lot easier!
Kitchenware
- Mixing bowls
- Knife and chopping board
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 300g of chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp of Shaoxing wine
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp of cornstarch
- Oil for frying
- Yu Xiang sauce
- 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of Chinkiang vinegar
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp of cornstarch
- 3 tbsp of water
- 5g of green onions
- 10g of garlic
- 5g of Thai chili pepper
- 1 tbsp of sweet soybean paste
- 50g of wood ear mushrooms
- 50g of fresh green and red chili peppers
Step-By-Step Instructions To Make Yu Shiang Chicken
Stir-frying all the ingredients is the easiest part of this recipe. Slicing the ingredients into shreds is the most time-consuming part. However, it is going to be absolutely worth it since it makes it even more flavorful!
Watch the recipe video on Instagram or TikTok for more guidance. If you have finished cooking this, why not try my other stir-fry recipes? Make these dishes for more stir-fry variety: Black Pepper Beef Stir-fry, Stir Fry Sweet Potato Leaves With Garlic, and Flavorful Stir-Fried Bok Choy And Mushrooms.
- Start by rinsing the wood ear mushrooms under cold water to remove any debris. Place them in a bowl and cover with warm water, allowing them to soak for 20 to 30 minutes until fully expanded and tender. After rehydration, drain and rinse the mushrooms if desired.
- Clean and slice the chicken breasts into thin strips.
- Marinate the chicken strips with cooking wine, egg white, and cornstarch. Mix well and marinate for 10 minutes.
- Chop into bits the green onions, Thai chili pepper, and garlic.
- Cut into shreds the wood ear mushrooms and red and green chili peppers.
- In a bowl, make the sauce by mixing light soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and water. Blend it well.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry the marinated chicken strips. Fry until tender and flesh white. Set aside.
- Heat oil in the pan again and sauté green onions, Thai chili pepper, and garlic.
- Add sweet soybean paste for a spicy kick, and stir until the red oil starts to melt.
- Add wood ear mushrooms and fresh green and red chili pepper shreds. Keep stirring until they become tender.
- Transfer the fried chicken strips to the pan.
- Give the sauce another mix and pour it into the pan.
- Stir-fry about seven to eight times until everything is well-coated in the delicious sauce. The sauce should start to thicken.
- Serve this dish with a bowl of rice and have it as your main or side dish.
Yu Shiang Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Knife and chopping board
- Non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 300 g chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp cooking wine
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- Oil for frying
Yu Xiang sauce
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp water
- 5 g green onions
- 10 g garlic
- 5 g Thai chili pepper
- 1 tbsp of sweet soybean paste
- 50 g wood ear mushrooms
- 50 g fresh green and red chili peppers
Instructions
- Start by rinsing the dried mushrooms under cold water to remove any debris. Place them in a bowl and cover with warm water, allowing them to soak for 20 to 30 minutes until fully expanded and tender. After rehydration, drain and rinse the mushrooms if desired.
- Clean and slice the chicken breasts into thin strips.
- Marinate the chicken strips with cooking wine, egg white, and cornstarch. Mix well and marinate for 10 minutes.
- Chop into bits the green onions, Thai chili pepper, and garlic.
- Cut into shreds the wood ear mushrooms and red and green chili peppers.
- In a bowl, make the sauce by mixing light soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and water. Blend it well.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry the marinated chicken strips. Fry until tender and flesh white. Set aside.
- Heat oil in the pan again and sauté green onions, Thai chili pepper, and garlic.
- Add sweet soybean paste for a spicy kick, and stir until the red oil starts to melt.
- Add wood ear mushrooms and fresh green and red chili pepper shreds. Keep stirring until they become tender.
- Transfer the fried chicken strips to the pan.
- Give the sauce another mix and pour it into the pan.
- Stir-fry about seven to eight times until everything is well-coated in the delicious sauce. The sauce should start to thicken.
- Serve this dish with a bowl of rice and have it as your main or side dish.
