Description
A staple appetizer in Japanese Chinese cuisine, but completely different from the Japanese 'sweet sesame/mayo dressing salad'. Authentic Sichuan Bang Bang Ji takes boiled bone-in chicken, 'smashes it with a wooden stick' to tenderize it, and drowns it in a viciously red, ultra-spicy sesame sauce heavy with homemade chili oil and Sichuan pepper.
Restaurants serving Bang Bang Ji (Sichuan Bon Bang Chicken)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Boiled chicken(bone-in best)
- Sesame paste(Zhi Ma Jiang)
- Homemade chili oil(Hong You)
- Sichuan pepper powder
- Soy sauce
- Black vinegar
- Cucumber
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe & Differences]
- (Boiling & Shocking) Slowly boil a whole chicken (or bone-in thighs) with scallion, ginger, and star anise. Instantly shock in ice water to tighten the skin.
- [Origin of the Name - Beating with a Stick]: Place the chicken on a board and beat it ('Bang Bang') with a 'wooden stick' (like a pestle). This loosens the meat from the bone and breaks down fibers so sauce penetrates deeply.
- Tear the beaten chicken by hand or chop into bite-sized pieces.
- (Ma La Sesame Sauce) Use premium 'Zhi Ma Jiang' (sesame paste) as a base. Add soy, black vinegar, sugar, and minced scallion.
- The absolute difference from JP sweet sauce: Dump in massively numbing 'Sichuan pepper powder' and blazing red 'homemade chili oil' (Hong You).
- Place chicken over julienned cucumbers and drown it entirely in the fiery red sesame sauce.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Violent Ma La heat of homemade chili oil/Sichuan pepper、Sesame paste depth
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Top JP boiled chicken with sesame dressing, heavy chili oil, and Sichuan pepper)
Pairing
Cold Beer / Fried Rice(pour sauce over it)
Trivia
[Trivia] Over 100 years ago at a Sichuan street stall, vendors 'beat tough old chicken meat with a wooden stick' to make it easier for customers to eat, birthing the name 'Bang Bang Ji'. In Japan, Chef Chen Kenmin removed the chilies and Sichuan pepper—which Japanese disliked at the time—adapting it into a 'sweet sesame sauce', completely erasing its authentic fiery form.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Coat the chicken and cucumber underneath with the blazing red chili oil and rich sesame sauce to the absolute limit. Initially, you taste the deep richness and sweetness of the sesame paste, but immediately after, a 'numbing, buzzing' shock of Sichuan pepper and chili heat attacks the tongue. Pouring the leftover sauce over rice is also phenomenal.
Allergen
Chicken, Soybeans, Wheat (Soy sauce), Sesame