Last Updated On: by Preeti · 6 Comments
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Dragon chicken is a popular chicken starter from Indo-Chinese cuisine. Here's an easy step by step recipe to make this restaurant style Dragon chicken recipe at home within 30 minutes. Serve it as a starter or appetizer or side dish with fried rice or noodles.
Table of Contents
What is Dragon Chicken?
Dragon chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese recipe. Thin long strips of boneless chicken are marinated and deep fried until crispy. These crispy fried chicken strips are tossed in a sweet, sour and spicy sauce along with cashewnuts, bell peppers (capsicum), onion and dry red chillies. Serve this chicken recipe as a starter or a side dish.
I love cooking Indo Chinese recipes and my favorites are Chicken Manchurian, Chicken 65, Chilli Chicken, Chicken Manchow Soup, and Gobi Manchurian.
About this Indo-Chinese Dragon Chicken
Indo-Chinese dishes involve Chinese cooking techniques that suits Indian taste buds. It means they are sweet, sour and SPICY!!! Similar to the Chilli Chicken, it is a dry chicken recipe with minimal sauce. The chicken is deep fried and then tossed with vegetables and stir-fry sauce.
Dragon chicken dish tastes spicy that might be the reason it is called Dragon Chicken. However the spiciness of sauce is perfectly balanced with salty, sweet and tangy flavors from soy sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar. In one word, it tastes YUM!
I had tried to recreate dragon chicken that I had tried at a Chinese restaurant here in India. To my surprise this recipe turned out better than the restaurants.
Many readers tried it and it is one of the best recipes I have on my website. It is quick and easy, made with simple ingredients, and no MSG added to enhance the flavors.
Watch the dragon chicken recipe video
Check out this video recipe for a step-by-step demonstration:
Ingredients for Dragon Chicken Recipe
If you love cooking Chinese, then you will have all the ingredients to make this Dragon chicken in your kitchen pantry. For the detailed list of ingredients & their measurements, please check out the recipe card below.
How to make Dragon Chicken (with stepwise photos)
Preparations
1. Marinate the Chicken. In a mixing bowl, combine chicken, pepper, salt, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, dark soy sauce, and half of 1 egg white. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Making the Dragon Sauce (Stir-fry sauce). In a bowl, whisk tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, water, red chili sauce, and cornflour/cornstarch. Stir to combine. The stir-fry sauce is ready.
3. Addition of flour: After 30 minutes of marinating the chicken, add cornflour/cornstarch and all-purpose flour. Stir to combine. If you have kept the marinated chicken in the refrigerator, take it out and keep it on the kitchen counter. Let it come to room temperature before you deep fry them.
4. Deep frying the chicken. In a deep bottom pan or wok, heat oil over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken strips. Let it cook undisturbed for a minute, then flip and fry until golden and crisp. Remove it to a plate.
Making Dragon Chicken
5. Toasting the cashews: Heat oil on medium heat in a wok or pan. Add cashews and stir-fry until golden. Remove it to a plate (leaving oil in the pan).If you toast the cashews separately and add it towards the end of stir frying it remains crunchy.
6. Stir frying the vegetables. Return the pan or wok to heat. Add oil and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and dried chilies. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add white onions. Stir fry until onions are soft. Add capsicum and cook it for 2-3 minutes. Season it with pepper and a pinch of salt.
7. Add the stir-fry sauce. Give the sauce a quick mix. Cook until sauce bubbles and thickens.
8. Combine everything. Add fried chicken and fried cashews. Toss them with the sauce. Garnish with spring onion (scallion) greens. Dragon chicken is ready to serve. Serve as a starter or side dish with fried rice or noodles.
Tips to make Dragon Chicken Recipe
- Prep in advance: Before you even turn on the heat, gather all your ingredients and have them within your reach on the kitchen counter. Stir-frying is super fast, so you don't want to be searching specific ingredients while your food cooks.
- Room temperature chicken: Marinated chicken taken out of the fridge won't fry nice. The chicken is cold and takes longer to cook through, and the exterior will start to brown quickly before the inside is fully cooked. Take your marinated chicken out a few minutes before cooking to let it come to room temperature. It helps chicken to cook evenly, resulting in juicier and more tender meat.
- Oil temperature matters: Make sure the temperature of the oil is medium-hot. For crispy dragon chicken bites cooked through,maintain the oil at 350-375°F.Too hot,and your chicken gets a golden color outside while it will be raw inside.
- Spice control: Deseed the red chilies to reduce their spiciness. Add as per your taste.
What to serve with Dragon Chicken?
You can serve this spicy dragon chicken dish with any of the following accompaniments
- Fried Rice or Steamed Rice
- Noodles - Chicken Hakka Noodles, Egg Hakka Noodles, or Chicken Chow Mein
- Stir-fried Vegetables
- Salad
More Indo-Chinese Recipes You Might Like
- Black Pepper Chicken
- Gobi Manchurian
- Chicken Shashlik
- Chicken Hakka Noodles
- Egg Hakka Noodles
If you make this Dragon chicken recipe, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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5 from 2 votes
Dragon Chicken Recipe (Restaurant Style Dragon Chicken)
Dragon chicken is a popular chicken starter from Indo-Chinese cuisine. Here's an easy step by step recipe to make this restaurant style Dragon chicken at home within 30 minutes. Serve it as a starter or appetizer or side dish with fried rice or noodles.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Starter
Cuisine Indo-Chinese
Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes minutes
Total Time 30 minutes minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 360kcal
Author Preeti
Equipment
1 Heavy bottom pan or a Chinese Wok
1 Mixing bowl
Ingredients
To marinate the chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 350 grams, cut into thin long strips
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- Half of 1 egg white
For the coating
- 1 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon all purpose flour (optional)
For stir-fry sauce
- ¼ cup tomato ketchup
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (substitute regular or light soy sauce)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon red chili sauce add chili sauce as per taste
- ½ teaspoon cornflour/cornstarch
For the stir fry
- 4 teaspoon oil
- 15 cashews
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 3-4 dried red chilies deseed to reduce spiciness or use red chili flakes
- ½ cup white onions thinly sliced
- ½ red bell pepper (capsicum), cut into thin strips
- ½ green bell pepper (capsicum), cut into thin strips
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- a pinch of salt
To Garnish
- spring onion greens
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
In a mixing bowl, combine chicken strips with ground black pepper, salt, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, dark soy sauce, and half of 1 egg white. Marinate for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add cornflour/cornstarch and all-purpose flour to the marinated chicken. Stir to combine.
Making the sitr-fry sauce
In a bowl, combine tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce, sugar, vinegar,water, red chili sauce, and cornflour/cornstarch. Stir to combine. The stir-fry sauce is ready.
Fry the chicken
In a deep bottom pan or wok, heat oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and fry. Do not stir immediately; let it fry for a few seconds. Flip and fry until golden and crispy. Remove it to a plate.
Stir fry the vegetables
Heat 2 teaspoon oil on medium heat. Add cashews and stir-fry until golden. Remove it to a plate (leaving oil in the pan).
Return the pan or wok to heat. Add 2 teaspoon oil and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and dried chilies. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Add white onions. Stir fry until onions are soft. Add bell peppers/capsicum and cook it for 2-3 minutes. Season it with ground pepper and a pinch of salt.
Add sauce and combine everything
Give the stir-fry sauce a quick mix. Cook until sauce bubbles and thickens.
Add fried chicken and fried cashews. Toss fried chicken and cashews with the sauce.
Garnish with spring onion (scallion) greens. Serve as a starter or side dish with fried rice or noodles.
Video
Notes
- Prep in advance: Before you even turn on the heat, gather all your ingredients and have them within your reach on the kitchen counter. Stir-frying is super fast, so you don't want to be searching specific ingredients while your food cooks.
- For crispy chicken: Make sure to cut the chicken breasts into thin long strips. This helps them cook evenly and get nice and crispy when fried.
- Marinate the chicken: To enhance the flavor marinate the chicken with ingredients mentioned above. Cover & keep it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes or longer. The longer it marinates, the tastier it gets!
- Room temperature chicken: Marinated chicken taken out of the fridge won't fry nice. The chicken is cold and takes longer to cook through, and the exterior will start to brown quickly before the inside is fully cooked. Take your marinated chicken out a few minutes before cooking to let it come to room temperature. It helps chicken to cook evenly, resulting in juicier and more tender meat.
- Egg whites to keep chicken moist: Add egg white a little at a time and mix it in until the chicken looks coated but not too wet. Too much moisture from egg white will make it soggy, not crispy.
- Oil temperature matters: Make sure the temperature of the oil is medium-hot. For crispy dragon chicken bites cooked through, maintain the oil at 350-375°F. Too hot, and your chicken gets a golden color outside while it will be raw inside.
- Don't crowd the pan: Fry the chicken in small batches so each piece has plenty of space to cook evenly.
- Cashew crunch: Fry cashews separately and add them to the dish at the end to retain their crispiness. This step makes the real difference.
- Spice control: Deseed the red chilies to reduce their spiciness. Add as per your taste.
- Leftovers: Dragon Chicken can be used in wraps,sandwiches,or salads for a quick and flavorful meal.
- Go easy on the salt: All the sauces have salt in them so add salt accordingly.
- Serve it hot! It will become soggy after some time. Dragon Chicken is best enjoyed fresh and crispy.
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
- Chicken: To make this dragon chicken recipe stick with boneless cuts. Chicken breasts work great, but you can also use boneless skinless thighs or tenders.
- Egg white: Do not skip the addition of egg as it prevents the chicken from drying when deep fried.
- Dried red chilies - I opted for the mild heat of Kashmiri dried red chilies (deseeding removes most spiciness) to make this spicy chicken appetizer. Feel free to experiment with your preferred variety or brand (deseed the chilies before using them to reduce the heat). Substitute it with red chili flakes or red chili paste or simply skip it.
- For the dragon sauce - tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce (substitute regular soy sauce), sugar, vinegar, and red chili sauce (adjust heat as per your liking). For a glossy, restaurant-style sauce, whisk in cornflour/cornstarch dissolved in a little water.
- Cashews - I used whole cashews. It provides a satisfying crunch that pairs beautifully with juicy tender chicken and silky sauce.
- Aromatics - Fresh garlic, onions, and spring onion (scallion) greens are added to the dish.
- Bell Peppers (also known as Capsicum) - I used red and green bell peppers. You can add any colored capsicum as per your liking.
- Oil - I used sunflower oil. You can use any oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point like vegetable oil or peanut oil.
Storage & Reheating
- Leftover Dragon chicken should be stored within 2 hours of cooking. Let it come to room temperature, and transfer it to an airtight container. Label it with the date of preparation and refrigerate. It stays good for 2 days. Reheat until piping hot and serve. However, the chicken won't remain crispy.
- To reheat the dish, sprinkle some water if it looks dry. Reheat, stirring as required, on low heat until piping hot. You can reheat in microwave for short intervals in microwave safe bowls. Take it out mix and again reheat.
- You can store the fried chicken and sauce separately. Reheating the chicken alone helps it retain crispness,while the sauce can be easily reheated alongside.
- Not a freezer-friendly recipe.
Variations that you can try
- Swap chicken for bite-sized prawns or shrimp,marinated in the same flavors and deep-fried.
- For the vegetarian option substitute chicken with cubed paneeror tofu.
- Fiery Dragon:Up the heat by adding red chili flakes or sriracha to the marinade or sauce.
- Drizzle some sesame oil over the finished dish for a nutty aroma and umami depth.
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