Black Pepper Chicken Recipe
And the moment you’ve all been waiting for – a recipe for black pepper chicken. If it’s well seasoned black pepper chicken is probably one of the best things you can find at any Chinese buffet. Normally thigh meat is used for this type of recipe but I decided to go with chicken breasts instead. If you enjoy dark meat chicken be sure to use boneless skinless chicken thighs! The sauce is truly outstanding, both black and white pepper and a little sake give it just the right amount of kick. There are also a few vegetables added to this recipe such as white onions, peas and carrots. Normally on the buffet tables they have white onions and green bell peppers and I have also seen celery in it before so just feel free to add whatever vegetables you like. You might want a little extra sauce to go with your rice, if so make sure to double or even triple the sauce depending on how much you want. Let me know how it turns out.
Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
6 tablespoons cornstarch (for dusting)
1 white onion (diced)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
oil (for drying)
Sauce-
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sake or rice wine
Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Cut chicken into ½“cubes and dust chicken pieces with corn starch until fully coated.
Step 3: Deep fry (or fry in a wok) chicken in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Step 4: Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok and stir fry diced onion for a minute or two. Add peas and carrots and stir fry for another minute. Add sauce mixture to the wok and heat until bubbling. Add chicken stirring to fully coat with the sauce. Serve with white rice.
Tags: cooking, recipes, food and drink, recipe
OMG, this recipe is to die for. I love your blog, I will definitely bookmark it and return, thanks a lot for the great recipes!
M’ drooling over your chicken;)
Very good one!
that’s my gurgling stomach you’re hearing ^_^
This is Grumpy’s favorite dish when we go out for Chinese – I’m so glad you posted this and it looks so easy to make!!
I’ve cooked similar dish like this.. but i’ve fried it together with sphagetti.. it taste really great!!!! together with Shitake mushrooms and asparagus.. hmmm.. NICE!
Chicken looking yummy…lovely pictures too
That chicken looks good. You can see all of the black pepper in it.
I love your recipes but need to find some sake. I read somewhere that this can be substituted by cider vinegar. Is that so?
I really was waiting for this recipe
My husband loves black pepper chicken. Can’t wait to make it for him at home.
Patrick Garry – Thanks, many more great recipes to come!
Vani – Thanks, It’s really good, you will love it.
rita – It needs some black pepper chicken
HoneyB – Thanks, its very easy to make. Let me know how it turns out.
Xing – Black pepper chicken with speghetti -sounds interesting!
Priti – Thanks for the compliments.
Kevin – Thanks.
Ivy – I’m sorry I’m not really sure about the cider vinegar. You can use rice wine or mirin in place of sake. I think KIKKOMAN makes it. If you can’t find any of those, I would recommend using any white wine with just a tiny bit of sugar in it. I hope this helps and let me know how you enjoy the recipe.
Kristen – Black pepper chicken really is amazing! I hope he likes it.
I almost had this for lunch today! I hadn’t tried it before – but I think I might try knocking this one up
If you weren’t going to use the oyster sauce, what would you replace it with?
Allyson – I would say there is no real replacement, the closest thing would be mushroom soy sauce or just regular soy sauce but its not going to taste the same.
i like the recipe but it is not like the black pepper chicken that i have had before. the chicken i have had seemed to have sugar or something to make taste it very sweet. it seemed to be caramelized or something. it is wonderful. the resturant has closed and i don’t know how to make it. can you hgelp
Could rice vinegar be substituted for rice wine or Sake?
Jamy – Sorry, I would not recommend it but you never know? I could probably give you a substitute but is the problem you dont want to use alcohol? If so that might be a little hard.
This is a great and easy recipe. And Jamy, I did use rice vinegar because that was what I had in my pantry. This is probably the first time, after many attempts, that I’ve actually cooked a Chinese dish at home that tastes like something from a restaurant! I did omit the peas and carrots due to personal tastes, but I am very impressed with the results and the little time it took to prepare it.
Hi-
I just made this. WOW SPICY. Mine is darker–purhaps the oyster sauce I’m using was darker than yours. I liked the flavor, but couldn’t eat much as it was too spicy hot. Also the coating of just corn starch tasted good but doesn’t look like yours or what it looks like at the resturant.
Just subscribed. Love your recipe breakdowns, pics and all! This is my favorite dish at Chinese buffets. Thanks so much for posting the recipe. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else! Great site!
Wow! I stumbled upon this recipe and I am so glad I did. This dish is my favorite at chinese restaurants and now I can make it at my own home and it is cheaper and better. I did add a little bit of water and a tad of brown sugar & green peppers (instead of peas and carrots) to make it a little closer to what I am used to. My kids even loved it. Thank you so much for blessing me with such a great recipe!
AWESOME. The best BPC I ever tasted. I used the onions and green peppers in it. I would recommend if you are doubling the recipe, dont bother adding more white or black pepper. It was wonderful!!
We just made this tonight. It was fabulous! Thank you.
I’ve made this recipe before & got rave reviews, but i lost the recipe. thanks for posting this, my husband is very happy making this for chinese new year with a lot of other great recipes. thanks again
Great recipe, I live in a small town with only a small shop, I can’t find Rice wine or Sake, can I use sherry instead.
Annie
Annie – Yes, you can.
Thank you Bobby, I’m going to have have this today.
Annie.
Made this tonight Bobby – after having had it bookmarked forever, I finally took the plunge. I was holding off because of the frying but honestly, this went together so quick and so easy I am disgusted with myself for taking so long to finally try it! Thank you! Now, if I can only get a recipe for Shrimp w/ Onions. Its a fried shrimp with a seasoned onion mixture. We haven’t had it in a long time since the chinese buffet we used to get it at closed over a year ago. I keep hoping to see it here someday!
HoneyB- Glad you enjoyed the recipe. I will see what I can do with the shrimp/w onions.
I found this recipe on Shelby’s site from Grumpy’s Honeybunch. I had to come by and get the recipe. I love doing different stir fries at hime and this looks awesome. I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you! This recipe looks delicious! I have never had black pepper chicken before.
Question: does the oyster sauce taste strong? We are not seafood fans, really.
Johna- Oyster sauce does not taste like seafood.
Thanks, Bobby! I hope to try this soon!
This recipe is fabulous!!! I’ve cooked lots of Chinese-style recipes, and this might be the best one I’ve tried. Especially considering how easy and quick it is to pull together. I opted for different veggies (red & green bell pepper, broccoli, and a little bit of Chinese eggplant). They probably totaled ~4 cups worth, altogether. Given the increase in veggies, I took your advice and tripled the sauce. Everything was absolutely delicious! Coating and frying the chicken– rather than just stir-frying it– added a lot of texture to the dish. The sauce was superb. And for me, the veggies were perfect. My husband raved about this meal, so it’s going into our regular rotation. Thanks Bobby!
This recipe is fabulous! And so quick and easy to pull together! I opted for different veggies (red & green bell pepper, broccoli, and some Chinese eggplant). Veggies probably totaled ~4 cups worth. Given that, I took your advice and tripled the sauce. Everything was absolutely delicious! Coating and frying the chicken– rather than just stir-frying it– added a lot of texture to the dish. The sauce was superb. And for me, the veggies were perfect. My husband raved about this meal, so I’ll be making it again soon. Thanks Bobby!