Black pepper chicken is a Chinese American dish that combines a comforting Chinese takeout-style brown sauce with a good amount of black pepper. While you mostly see Chinese cooks using white pepper, this dish highlights the floral aroma and heat of black pepper!
Where I First Encountered Black Pepper Chicken
I admittedly didn’t grow up with black pepper chicken. For me, it’s been a relatively recent discovery. You know how you generally have your go-to’s on a Chinese takeout menu and tend to glaze over everything else?
That’s me—Justin and I have a pretty dependable order at our local takeout place: a couple egg rolls (I can never resist), beef and broccoli, a large wonton soup (I have to do a recipe for the big rubbery—for lack of a better word—Chinese takeout wontons. I weirdly love them.), and Singapore Noodles.
Perhaps this is shattering the illusion that us food bloggers are cooking dinner for ourselves every single night. I will gladly dispel that. (Just because you can doesn’t always mean that you want to.)
That said, it is extremely valuable to know how to make these dishes on those nights when you do feel up to cooking, want to make a version that suits your family’s tastes, would like to save some money, or just want to test your capabilities in the kitchen.
Which brings me back to this black pepper chicken recipe. On one particular afternoon, it was close to 2pm, and I hadn’t yet had lunch. We decided that Chinese takeout would be the quickest route to heading off the impending hangries.
Like the dangers of walking into a grocery store while hungry, we don’t advise ordering off a Chinese takeout menu while ravenous. Looking for more dishes to shove into my gaping maw in front of the TV, the Black Pepper Chicken caught my eye.
It was a tasty revelation! The black pepper gives the dish a special and unique aroma and another dimension. If you’re a fan of black pepper, definitely give this recipe a go.
Black Pepper Vs. White Pepper
If you’ve been cooking with us for a while, you know that most of our Chinese recipes employ white pepper, which is much more common in Chinese cuisine. But what’s the difference between white and black pepper?
You may be surprised to know that the two ingredients come from the same plant, piper nigrum. The peppercorns start as berries, and depending on when the berries are harvested and processed, as well as whether or not the whole berry or just the inner seed is retained creates the distinction between white and black pepper.
Black pepper is made by taking the green, unripe berries of the plant, cooking them, and drying them. You make white pepper by picking the berries when ripe, and then removing the outer skin of the berry before drying.
The flavor of black pepper is more floral and complex than white pepper, which has a more pure spice.
While white pepper can add simple heat to a dish (or a lot of heat, as in hot and sour soup), black pepper adds increased complexity and flavor to a dish, like in this black pepper chicken!
Recipe Instructions
Start by marinating your chicken. In a bowl, add the sliced chicken, water, cornstarch, oil, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Rub the marinade ingredients into the chicken with your hands until the chicken has absorbed all the liquid. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Next, prepare the sauce mixture. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir everything together until well-combined, and set aside.
Place your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and then add the chicken all in a single layer. Sear the chicken until opaque on all sides (this should only take a couple minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the wok, and set aside. The chicken will be 80-90% done, but you’ll cook it again at the end.
Without washing the wok, turn on the heat to medium. Add another tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and onion. Stir-fry for 20 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
Add the peppers and celery, along with the 1 teaspoon black pepper.
Stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Pour in the sauce mixture. Use your wok spatula to stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze, and let it come to a simmer.
Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry, and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 seconds until thick and gravy-like. Toss in the chicken and its juices. Stir-fry until the chicken is coated in the sauce and the sauce is thickened to your liking.
At this point, you can make adjustments. If you like your brown sauce darker, add a dash more of dark soy sauce. Add more cornstarch slurry if your sauce is too thin, or more chicken stock or water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with steamed rice.
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Recipe
Black Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast (or thighs)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
For the rest of the dish:
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (divided)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 medium onion (cut into wedges)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 bell pepper (any color, cut into 1-inch/2.5cm pieces)
- 1 stalk celery (thinly sliced on an angle)
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water to form a cornstarch slurry)
Instructions
- Start by marinating your chicken. In a bowl, add the sliced chicken, water, cornstarch, oil, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Rub the marinade ingredients into the chicken with your hands until the chicken has absorbed all the liquid. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Next, prepare the sauce mixture. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir everything together until well-combined, and set aside.
- Place your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and then add the chicken all in a single layer. Sear the chicken until opaque on all sides (this should only take a couple minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the wok, and set aside. The chicken will be 80-90% done, but you’ll cook it again at the end.
- Without washing the wok, turn on the heat to medium. Add another tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and onion. Stir-fry for 20 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
- Add the peppers and celery, along with the 1 teaspoon black pepper. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the sauce mixture. Use your wok spatula to stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze, and let it come to a simmer.
- Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry, and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 seconds until thick and gravy-like. Toss in the chicken and its juices. Stir-fry until the chicken is coated in the sauce and the sauce is thickened to your liking.
- At this point, you can make adjustments. If you like your brown sauce darker, add a dash more of dark soy sauce. Add more cornstarch slurry if your sauce is too thin, or more chicken stock or water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with steamed rice.
