Cantonese chicken is a popular Chinese-American dish that consists of chicken pieces stir-fried in a flavorful sauce. With its sweet, savory, and slightly spicy taste profile, it has become a favorite at Chinese restaurants and takeout joints across the United States.
In this article, we will dive into everything you need to know about chicken Cantonese, including its origins, ingredients, cooking method, flavor profile, and some tips for making it at home. We’ll also suggest some substitutions and variations so you can put your own spin on this classic recipe. Let’s get woking!
A Brief History of Chicken Cantonese
“Cantonese” refers to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and its capital city, Canton. This is where Cantonese food comes from. By the late 1800s, this style of cooking had spread to restaurants in Chinatowns across North America thanks to immigration.
Chicken Cantonese as we know it today seems to have come from Chinese-American restaurants in the early to mid-20th century, but its roots go back hundreds of years to other stir-fried Chinese chicken dishes. It’s likely that the name “Cantonese” comes from the way the food is cooked and the ingredients that are used.
Over time, the recipe evolved from its likely origins as a simple stir-fry to a saucier, sweeter interpretation laden with ingredients like pineapple and crispy noodles meant to appeal to American tastes. It became a ubiquitous menu item at neon-lit Chinese takeout joints and sit-down restaurants alike.
Traditional Ingredients in Cantonese Chicken
While recipes can vary, chicken Cantonese is traditionally made with the following ingredients:
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast cut into 1-inch cubes
- Onions – Thinly sliced yellow or white
- Garlic – Minced
- Ginger – Finely minced or grated
- Red bell pepper – Cut into thin strips
- Soy sauce – For salty flavor
- Oyster sauce – For savory flavor
- Rice vinegar – For tangy flavor
- Sesame oil – For nutty aroma
- Sugar – For sweetness
- Cornstarch – To thicken sauce
- Vegetable oil – For stir-frying
- Water or chicken stock – To deglaze pan
Some other vegetables like carrots, broccoli, bamboo shoots, or baby corn are also common additions A few optional mix-ins include Shaoxing wine, dried chiles, cashews, pineapple, crispy noodles, scallions, and cilantro
The Classic Cooking Method for Cantonese Chicken
Cooking Cantonese chicken involves just a few simple steps:
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Marinate the chicken – Toss the chicken with soy sauce oyster sauce sesame oil, sugar, and cornstarch. Let sit for 15-30 minutes. This infuses flavor and tenderizes.
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Stir-fry aromatics – Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Cook onions, garlic, and ginger until fragrant.
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Add chicken – Turn heat to medium-high. Stir in marinated chicken. Cook until browned and nearly cooked through.
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Make a sauce—Add broth, vinegar, and other spices to the pan to make a sauce. Let boil and thicken.
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Toss everything – Return chicken to pan and toss to coat in thickened sauce.
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Finish and plate – Stir in scallions or sesame seeds. Serve chicken and sauce over steamed rice.
The stir-frying and quick cooking gives the chicken a pleasant smoky wok hay flavor. The sweet, salty, and tangy sauce permeates the chicken, creating a mouthwatering dish.
The Classic Cantonese Chicken Flavor Profile
When perfectly executed, Cantonese chicken has a complex yet balanced flavor profile:
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Savory – The oyster sauce and soy sauce lend an umami, savory taste.
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Sweet – Just a touch of sugar balances out the savoriness.
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Salty – Soy sauce also provides a salty flavor.
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Tangy – Rice vinegar gives it a bright acidity.
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Spicy – Optional chiles can provide gentle heat.
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Aromatic – Sesame oil, garlic, and ginger round it out.
The richness of the chicken pairs well with the sweet-and-sour sauce coating each morsel. You get a wonderful mix of flavors and textures in each bite.
Tips for Making Perfect Chicken Cantonese at Home
Here are some helpful tips to end up with restaurant-quality chicken Cantonese at home:
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Use boneless dark meat chicken – Thighs stay juicier than breasts when stir-fried. Cut into small, uniform pieces to cook quickly.
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Marinate sufficiently – At least 15 minutes, up to overnight. This tenderizes and infuses flavor.
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Get the wok very hot initially to sear the chicken so it doesn’t stick. But don’t burn the garlic and ginger.
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Use a stainless steel or nonstick wok since the sugars in the sauce can react with cast iron or carbon steel.
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Make the sauce from broth – Don’t just mix with water. Chicken stock adds much more flavor.
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Thicken the sauce properly – The cornstarch slurry should be stirred in just before serving to avoid lumps.
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Don’t forget sesame oil and sugar – These provide crucial flavor in small amounts.
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Adjust seasoning – Add more soy, vinegar, or sugar based on your tastes.
Simple Substitutions and Variations
Chicken Cantonese is highly adaptable to work with what you have on hand:
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Protein – Substitute pork, turkey, shrimp, tofu, or mushrooms for the chicken.
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Vegetables – Replace bell peppers with zucchini, snap peas, green beans, baby bok choy, etc.
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Sauce flavors – Swap hoisin or plum sauce for the oyster sauce. Use coconut aminos to make it gluten free.
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Spice it up – Add sriracha, crushed red pepper, or chili-garlic sauce for spicy Cantonese chicken.
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Make it crispy – Toss in fried wonton strips or roasted cashews for crunch.
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Add fruit – Mix in pineapple chunks or mandarin oranges for a sweet contrast.
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Serve over – Rice noodles, zucchini noodles, or cauliflower rice instead of regular rice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chicken Cantonese
What kind of chicken is best to use?
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are ideal since they stay moist when stir-fried quickly at high heat. Breasts also work but tend to dry out.
Is chicken Cantonese spicy?
Traditionally it’s not spicy at all, just sweet and tangy. But you can add chili flakes or sriracha to make it spicier if desired.
What sauce is used in chicken Cantonese?
The sauce is a mixture of broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch. Oyster sauce is the key ingredient that gives it a savory flavor.
What vegetable goes well with Cantonese chicken?
Onions, bell peppers, carrots, snap peas, broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and baby bok choy are all classic choices.
Is chicken Cantonese gluten free?
Yes, if you use tamari instead of soy sauce and omit crispy noodles. Be sure to check that the oyster sauce is gluten free.
Is chicken Cantonese healthy?
Made with lean protein and vegetables in a light sauce, Cantonese chicken can be a relatively healthy takeout option. But deep-fried versions or heavy sauces make it less healthy.
Enjoy Restaurant-Worthy Cantonese Chicken at Home
Recreating the sweet, savory, and lightly spicy flavor of chicken Cantonese is easy once you know the basic ingredients and technique. Next time you have a craving, give this classic Chinese restaurant dish a whirl in your own kitchen. The aroma of garlic, ginger, and sesame will make you feel like an accomplished home wok master.
This Sizzling Weeknight Dish Combines Classic Cantonese Flavors With Clay Pot Cooking
I visited Guangzhou in the winter of 2019 with my mom, and one of my most memorable meals from that trip was a dinner I had at a Cantonese restaurant called Hui Shi Jia (惠食佳). A few things helped this meal stick in my head: For one, we waited a record-breaking (for me) two and a half hours. For another, the restaurant’s iconic sizzling clay pot dishes, known as juéjué bāo (啫啫煲), were worth every minute.
My mom and I ordered clay pots with swamp eel and gai lan, along with the classic clay pot rice with cured meats. These were a feast for the senses—served sizzling hot, filling the air with a charred aroma and a satisfying crackle. The vegetables were bright green, the meat tender, and the rice crispy—and all perfectly seasoned. People in Guangzhou love Hui Shi Jia’s juejue bao, and the restaurant takes it very seriously. They make their own clay cooking pots and carefully time the trip from the kitchen to the table so that the dish keeps cooking until it gets to the customer.
I’ve been thinking about this style of cooking ever since I had that meal, but only recently did I attempt to do it myself, after purchasing a high-quality clay pot. To start off, I decided to use this technique to make a twist on another Cantonese classic: chicken with black bean sauce (dòuchǐ jī, 豆豉鸡). The end result had the taste of traditional chicken and black bean sauce, but each ingredient was a little more concentrated, and the pot made the whole thing sizzle.
The History of Juejue Bao Dishes
Juejue bao is a technique rather than any one single dish. Originally pronounced zhě in Mandarin (for 啫, a character that relates to the sizzling sound the dish makes) and pronounced jué in Cantonese, jue jue refers to a cooking method where fresh ingredients are quickly seared in a preheated clay pot, without adding water or broth. Clay pots retain heat exceptionally well, and when the ingredients hit the scorching surface, they sear instantly. This locks in the food’s moisture, creating tender, juicy bites with a slightly crisp exterior. The high heat also intensifies the aroma of the sauces and aromatics, allowing the Shaoxing wine added to these dishes to evaporate and infuse the other ingredients with its deep fragrance.
The method for cooking juejue bao is believed to have originated in dai pai dongs, 大排档 (affordable food stalls), in Guangdong. While the technique itself isn’t new, it’s a modern take on a classic Cantonese method called 煀 (qū), in which ingredients are steamed in a covered vessel to enhance their aroma.
According to The Cantonese Chef’s Classic (《粤厨宝典》), chef Liang Meng (梁孟) created the first juejue chicken in the 1940s. During an especially cold winter, he experimented by preheating the clay pot even longer than he did for his usual clay pot chicken (煀鸡, qū jī) and adding more oil to keep the food warm for diners. The loud sizzling sound inspired the dish’s name, and it quickly became a Guangzhou favorite. Some records also refer to it as zhāzhā jī (喳喳鸡).
Because juejuebao is a relatively new technique, there is no standard flavoring combination. The sauce is made by each cook differently, but it usually has soy sauce and oyster sauce in it. Other things that are sometimes added are chuhou paste, hoisin sauce, fermented tofu, ground bean sauce (which tastes like douchi), and/or peanut butter. For my version, I kept it simple—and true to the usual douchi ji format—with soy sauce, oyster sauce and the umami-rich douchi.
