This is one of those dishes that’s perfect for so many occasions. It makes the perfect Friday night fakeaway or midweek dinner, but it’s also special enough for a date night or to serve for company. Follow me…
Black Pepper Chicken
We’ll be using boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. Thigh is much more difficult to overcook than breast, which is important because we want to build up a crust on the chicken.
Marinade
The marinade is really simple and serves to wrap the chicken in some flavour as you prep the rest of the recipe. You’ll need oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and black pepper. That’s it!
Cornflour
Aka cornstarch for my friend across the pond. Once the chicken has marinated we’re going to mix in some cornflour. This will not only help the chicken crisp up as it cooks, but it’ll also help absorb the sauce and help it cling to the chicken. Process shots: add chicken, pepper, oyster sauce and soy sauce to bowl (photo 1), mix (photo 2), add cornflour (photo 3), mix (photo 4).
Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
To cook the chicken we are going to fry it. I recommend using a large wok to catch excess oil that is likely to spit. Alongside the chicken, the only other additions are onion, red pepper, garlic and some more black pepper.
Black Pepper Sauce
This sauce is incredibly simple and consists of chicken stock, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. It will thicken up pretty quickly once it hits the pan, so you won’t need to simmer it for long. Process shots: add chicken to hot oil (photo 1), fry then remove (photo 2), fry onion and red pepper (photo 3), fry garlic and black pepper (photo 4), add sauce (photo 5), stir in chicken (photo 6).
What kind of black pepper should I use?
It’s important to use coarse ground pepper (you can buy tubs that are literally called ‘coarse ground black pepper’). Don’t use the powdery stuff.
How spicy is this recipe?
This recipe will give you a fair kick of heat, but I wouldn’t say it’s overbearing. If you’re at all wary just start off with less in the sauce and work your way up (much easier to add more than remove it!).
Do I have to fry the chicken?
If I don’t feel like frying it I’ll use the air fryer, where it still comes out pretty crispy. I’ve added more on this in the recipe card notes below.
Serving Black Pepper Chicken
To serve, I’ll sometimes sprinkle with sesame seeds if I’ve got them on hand, but they’re not mandatory. From there, this dish goes perfectly on a bed of rice or noodles! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this black pepper chicken shall we?!
How to make Black Pepper Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
For another delicious black pepper recipe check out my Black Pepper Beef Noodles! For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
Chicken Chow Mein Salted Caramel Chicken Salt and Chilli Chicken Honey Sriracha Chicken
