Garlic Chicken
گارلک چکن
Garlic chicken uses a lot of garlic, a whole head of it, fried slowly until golden and sweet, then turned into a savoury soy-based sauce with a little chili and sugar. The chicken is velveted rather than battered, so the dish is lighter than Manchurian and comes together in about twenty minutes.
- ⏱ Total: 32 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 12 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Mix the chicken with the egg white, 1 tablespoon of cornflour and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Leave for 15 minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a karahi and cook the chicken on high heat for 3–4 minutes until just cooked. Lift it out.
Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining oil and the garlic, and fry gently for 1–2 minutes, stirring, until the garlic turns pale golden. Add the chili flakes for a few seconds.
Add the remaining soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and thicken with 1 teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a little water.
Return the chicken, toss to coat, and finish with spring onions. Serve with rice.
Kitchen notes
Watch the garlic closely. It goes from golden and sweet to burnt and bitter in seconds; take the pan off the heat if it colours too fast.
Chop the garlic by hand rather than using paste. Chopped garlic fries into sweet golden bits; paste tends to stick and burn.
Built around one ingredient
Garlic chicken has a simple idea: take an ingredient that’s usually in the background and make it the star. A whole head of chopped garlic, cooked gently in oil, loses its raw bite and turns sweet, nutty and golden. Add soy sauce, a little sugar and a pinch of chili, and you have a sauce that’s savoury and moreish without any ketchup at all.
Low heat for the garlic, high heat for the rest
This dish uses two heat levels. The chicken is seared quickly on high heat and set aside. Then the heat comes down for the garlic, which needs a gentler hand to turn golden without burning. Finally the heat goes back up to thicken the sauce quickly and glaze the chicken.
Velveting keeps it tender
As in black pepper chicken, a thin coating of egg white and cornflour keeps the chicken silky. Slice it thinly and evenly, and don’t crowd the pan, so the pieces sear instead of stewing in their own juices.
Serving
Serve garlic chicken with steamed rice, fried rice or chowmein. It sits well alongside a sweeter dish such as sweet and sour chicken.
Questions people ask
Is a whole head of garlic too much?
No. Fried slowly, garlic turns mellow and sweet rather than sharp. It's the main flavour of the dish.
Can I add vegetables?
Yes. Broccoli, capsicum or mushrooms work well; stir-fry them for a minute before adding the sauce.
Can I use prawns?
Yes. Prawns need only 2 minutes in the pan before you lift them out, and the rest of the method is the same.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 290
- Protein
- 30 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
