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This Dragon chicken recipe is a version I make that the kids love. I’ll say right now this probably (definitely!) isn’t an exact copy of the Dragon Chicken you’d have in a restaurant, which I know would be way to spicy for my gang. That said, it’s pretty easy to turn up the heat in this recipe if your lot prefer that.
Dragon Chicken Recipe {Clean Eating}
There’s a few steps to this recipe, so I tend to make it at the weekend, or at least put the chicken in it’s marinade when I’m not short on time. The cooking of the dish is fast – its the marinading that takes the time.
Yep, I’m gonna be honest here: when the kids were smaller they ate this purely because the recipe has the word dragon in it. They knew it was chicken, not dragon, but somehow the name makes this dish so appealing to kids. And if the kids are going to eat it, I’m going to make it. Oh yes.
What Is Dragon Chicken?
This Dragon Chicken recipe is our Clean version of a dish that’s common in China.
We’ve eaten this in a rather fancy Chinese restaurant and really, the recipe as it is is pretty Clean to start with. Our Clean version is more about making it into something the kids happily eat, which they do.
Dragon chicken’s are actually rare Vietnamese chickens, with big feet. This recipe uses regular store bought chicken breast, Organic of possible and free range at the least.
I use chicken breast for this recipe rather than thighs (which I love also) because I cut the chicken into thin strips, and chicken breasts work better and cook quicker.
I also change the peppers from green to red. Why? No one (including us adults, I’ve tried, honestly!) really loves them in this house. Maybe I’m cooking them all wrong, but they’re bitter to me. Red, (any other color but green actually!) we love, so I’ve changed them. Use green if you like them, this dish is traditionally made with green.
And finally, in restaurants red food color will often be added to give this dish the bright red color. Obviously, I don’t add food coloring to this dish.
Grab the FREE 18 Meal Ideas CHEAT SHEET Here!Making The Marinade
Once you’ve put your marinade together, put it into a Ziploc bag like these (Yes, I use these for…everything!).Then put the chicken strips into the bag with the marinade and give it a good massage to get the sauce to cover the chicken.
You need to leave the chicken in the marinade for at least an hour, overnight is better. If time’s short, an hour is fine, you’re still going to get the flavor of the marinade, but with most marinades, longer’s better.
Making The Sauce
I start this sauce just before I start the chicken off frying in the pan. The peppers and onion slices need about 10 minutes to soften so the kids don’t yell ‘this isn’t cooked!’ (they’ve been known to do that) so start them off first and then just before they’re done, put the chicken into fry.
The chicken strips are thin and so they cook fast in very hot oil, and once the peppers and onions are cooked, the sauce is really only combining the ingredients and heating it up up together, then letting the sauce reduce a touch. .
Make The Sauce Ahead Of Time
If you wanted to, you could make this sauce ahead of time and leave it covered in the fridge for up to 48 hours. To reheat the sauce, just transfer it back into a saucepan and gently reheat it.
The chicken strips cannot be made ahead. You can get it all ready so you just need to fry the chicken, but the chicken strips will not stay crispy if you cook them and then reheat them. I’ve tried to reheat this chicken in the oven, and re-frying them, and neither gives the chicken that fresh, fried, crispy taste you get when they’re just cooked.
This step actually takes the least time, so luckily it’s easy to make a freshly cooked batch each time.
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
- Healthy chicken enchiladas
- Clean eating butter chicken
- Oven baked Italian chicken
- Clean eating chicken tikka
How to make Dragon Chicken
This recipe makes enough for 6 people – 4 kids & 2 adults
- 4 Organic chicken breasts – butterflied and sliced into thin strips
- 4 tbsp Olive oil – for frying the chicken
- 3 tbsp Flour – for dusting
Marinade Ingredients
- 2 tbsp of corn starch
- 4 tbsp of Wholewheat flour
- 4 tbsp of dark soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp of mild chilli powder
- 1 tsp of Ground ginger
- 2 Medium Eggs – whisked
* If your paste is too thick (some flours are more absorbent than others) add a little water, 1 tbsp at a time until you have a workable paste. The paste should coat the chicken strips)
* Feel free to change the mild chilli powder for something stronger. This recipe is mild.
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 Large red onion – thinly sliced
- 3 Red peppers – thinly sliced
- 2 Cups of Tomato puree
- 2 tbsp of Dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of Maple syrup
- 1 tsp of crushed fresh ginger
- 1 tsp of mild chilli powder
Step 1
Put all your marinade ingredients into a blender like this one (of all the gadgets I’ve bought over the last decade, this one gets used every single day!).
Step 2
Whizz it up, making sure all the corn starch is totally blended. Corn starch can go really lumpy if it’s not blended enough, so keep whizzing it up until you have a smooth paste.
Step 3
Butterfly and cut your chicken into thin strips. Put them in the Ziploc bag and add the marinade. Zip the bag up and massage the chicken, working the marinade into the meat.
Step 4
Put the marinade bag with chicken in the fridge.
Step 5
Cook your pepper and onion slices on a low heat until they’re fully cooked and tender.
Step 6
Heat your oil in a large frying pan for the chicken. Dust each strip of chicken in flour, then shake off the excess. Each strip if chicken need to be on the frying pan, so space them out, this is just to make sure the chicken goes crispy. Turn the chicken over and cook the other side, you’ll end up with strips of chicken that look a lot like chicken tenders
Step 7
Add the sauce ingredients to the onions and peppers. stir to combine and heat on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce is heated through. Season to taste.
Serve! I often add Wholegrain rice to this dish. You could also serve with with bread to mop up the sauce.
Dragon Chicken Recipe To Print
Dragon Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Corn starch – (marinade)
- 4 tbsp Wholemeal flour – (marinade)
- 2 medium Eggs – (marinade) whisked
- 4 tbsp Dark soy sauce – (marinade)
- 1½ tsp Mild chilli powder – (marinade)
- 1 tsp Ground ginger – (marinade)
- 4 Chicken organic breasts – (tenders) butterflied & cut into thin strips
- 4 tbsp Flour – (tenders) for dusting the chicken
- 4 tbsp Olive oil – (tenders) for frying the chicken
- 1 Large Red onion – (for sauce) thinly sliced
- 3 Red peppers – (for sauce) thinly sliced
- 2 Cups Tomato puree – (for sauce)
- 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce – (for sauce)
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup – (for sauce)
- 1 tsp Crushed ginger – (for sauce)
- 1 tsp Mild chilli powder – (for sauce)
Instructions
- Put all your marinade ingredients into a blender like this one (of all the gadgets I’ve bought over the last decade, this one gets used every single day!).
- Whizz it up, making sure all the corn starch is totally blended. Corn starch can go really lumpy if it’s not blended enough, so keep whizzing it up until you have a smooth paste.
- Butterfly and cut your chicken into thin strips. Put them in the Ziploc bag and add the marinade. Zip the bag up and massage the chicken, working the marinade into the meat.
- Put the marinade bag with chicken in the fridge.
- Cook your pepper and onion slices on a low heat until they’re fully cooked and tender.
- Heat your oil in a large frying pan for the chicken. Dust each strip of chicken in flour, then shake off the excess. Each strip if chicken need to be on the frying pan, so space them out, this is just to make sure the chicken goes crispy. Turn the chicken over and cook the other side, you’ll end up with strips of chicken that look a lot like chicken tenders
- Add the sauce ingredients to the onions and peppers. stir to combine and heat on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce is heated through. Season to taste.
- Serve! I often add Wholegrain rice to this dish. You could also serve with with bread to mop up the sauce.
