This page is better because of Alex Sunins, the reader whose kitchen testing confirmed the fix at the heart of it. Thank you again, Alex.
Gordon Ramsay’s Sichuan chicken is thigh pieces fried sticky in a soy, Shaoxing and Sichuan pepper marinade with orange zest. It comes from Ultimate Cookery Course and takes about 45 minutes. One step in the book does not work, and this page fixes it.
Ramsay writes that “chicken thigh is the best part of the bird for me”. Yet his book covers the pan while his own video never touches a lid. My reader Alex lost real time and frustration to that lid before finding the video’s answer himself.
A lid traps steam and drips it straight back into the pan, so a covered sauce can never reduce. Keep it off, keep the heat up, and the marinade browns into a glaze. The full fix is in the FAQs.
Gordon Ramsay’s Sichuan Chicken Thighs
Course: DinnersCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes30
minutes340
kcal45 minutes
Ramsay calls this one a fuss-free wonder in the official video. Marinated thigh pieces in a sticky Sichuan pepper and orange glaze, from the meat chapter of Ultimate Cookery Course.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Sunflower or groundnut oil, for frying
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
4cm (1½ in) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and roughly ground
Zest of ½ orange
Pinch of caster sugar
- For the marinade:
4 tbsp (¼ cup) light soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or medium-dry sherry)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- To serve:
3 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Directions
- Marinate: Cut each thigh into three pieces. Mix the marinade ingredients with 2 tablespoons of water, coat the chicken, season and mix well. Leave to marinate for up to 2 hours.
- Fry the aromatics: Heat a little oil in a wok or heavy frying pan over a high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for 3 minutes until tender and aromatic.
- Add the spice: Stir in the Sichuan peppercorns and orange zest and cook for 30 seconds, just enough to wake them up.
- Cook the chicken: Add the chicken and all its marinade, then sprinkle in the sugar. Leave the pan uncovered, exactly as Gordon does in his video, and fry over a medium-high heat for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is browned and the sauce is sticky.
- Finish: Scatter over the spring onions, then add a little soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil at the table.
Notes
- Ramsay’s ginger tip from the same book page: peel it with a teaspoon rather than a knife, it gets around the knobbly bits. For exact thigh doneness cues, see my chicken cooking times guide.
FAQs
Why is my sauce watery instead of sticky?
If you followed the book, the lid is the culprit, and you are not alone. Alex tested his way out of it: lid off, high heat, and 9 minutes on each side for the chicken.
His finishing move is worth stealing. Lift the chicken out, then cook the marinade alone until a spatula traces a clean line through it. The chicken stays juicy while the sauce catches up.
Did Gordon Ramsay really mean to cover the pan?
A lid never appears in his own video. He fries everything open until, in his words, “lovely and brown and the sauce is deliciously thick”. Browning cannot happen under a lid, so the video method is the only one that matches its own description.
The book and the video share every ingredient, so this is one recipe with one instruction changed. When a book and its author’s own video disagree, I cook like the video.
How much sugar should you actually use?
The book and the video both say a pinch, and on a TV burner that is evidently enough. At home, Alex settled on 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for a glaze that actually clings.
Sugar is what makes a glaze grip the meat, so more sugar means more cling. Start with one tablespoon if you are cautious, and add the second once you see how your pan behaves.
What is Shaoxing wine and what replaces it?
Shaoxing is a Chinese rice wine, and the book answers this exact question. Ramsay writes: “You can find it in most supermarkets nowadays, but you could use medium-dry sherry instead.”
Skip cooking wine labelled with added salt, since the soy already carries plenty. Dry sherry from any supermarket shelf does the job for pennies.
What do you serve with Sichuan chicken?
The book says rice or noodles, and the sticky sauce is built for either. His egg-fried rice noodles turn it into a full fakeaway night.
For a starter from the same corner of the menu, his salt and pepper squid coats its rings in the same toasted Szechuan peppercorns. Keep the finishing soy and sesame on the table for both.
Does Sichuan chicken store and reheat well?
Yes, and it is one of the rare sticky dishes that does. The glaze thickens overnight in the fridge, and it keeps for 2 to 3 days.
Reheat it in a pan with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Or go the second-meal route and shred it cold through his duck stir fry noodles for a ten-minute lunch.
