Szechuan Chicken Tacos are a delicious fusion of Mexican and Chinese dishes. They are packed with flavor and very satisfying!
I had been eyeing the Kung Pao Chicken Tacos featured in Cooking Light recently, and was planning to try making them eventually. Today, I had a serious craving for spicy Asian, so it seemed the perfect time to try making this food truck inspired taco recipe. I looked at the photos and recipe, to see what I needed to pick up at the market to make it happen, and decided some changes were in order, to satisfy my personal immediate craving. Celery... no thanks, I like it, but I'm kicking it out of my tacos. I also pondered adding lettuce or something for that cool contrasting crunch I adore so, in traditional tacos. I would solve that dilemma at the market, knowing some frisky piece of produce would say, "hey lady over here, pick me".
At the market, I grabbed a red pepper, sweet onion & scallions. This dish was metamorphosing into Szechuan Chicken tacos... similar, yes, but a different branch of the species. I gazed at the available lettuces & greens, comparing the pros & cons of each option. The more I looked, the more I started to want coleslaw, but that just didn't seem quite right. I must have been quite the site, standing there staring at the veggies like I was in some sort of a produce museum. Then the Savoy cabbage said "Hey, lady" ... and it all pieced together. An Asian slaw from the lighter textured Savoy would do the trick. I would even toss the peanuts in with it. Oh, yeah! I headed home with my fresh supplies.
Enough, of my inane ramblings, here is the resulting recipe....
While tacos are awesome, burgers are great as well. Try my Asian Chicken Burger too!
Szechuan Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- ¾ - 1 lb chicken breast
- 2 tbs. cornstarch
- 1 tbs. canola oil
- 1 cup sliced sweet red pepper
- 1 cup chopped sweet onion
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallion
- 2 dozen corn tortillas
Asian Slaw
- 2 ½ cups shredded Savoy cabbage approx. ½ a head
- 1 tbs. rice wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp. sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon low sodium soy sauce I use gluten-free
- 1 tsp. fresh lime juice
- ⅓ cup unsalted or lightly-salted peanuts I used cocktail peanuts
Szechuan Sauce
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 ½ tbs. fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 3 tbs. rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbs. light brown sugar
- 1 tbs sambal oelek chili paste
- 1 teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce
- 1 clove of garlic crushed minced
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Toss together the ingredients for the slaw, and set aside.
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside, as well.
- Cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces add cornstarch, and toss to coat the chunks.
- Put canola oil in large wok or skillet over med-high heat, once it is hot add the peppers & onions. Stir fry for a minute.
- Add the chicken, and stir fry until cooked through.
- Add the sauce, stir over heat until sauce is thickened and chicken is glazed. Remove from heat & toss in scallions.
- Place corn tortillas under broiler, when a light char starts, flip them and very lightly char other side. Remove and gently fold over while hot & fill with slaw and stir fried chicken.
Robin says
YUM. I may need a Zantac before I try these because onions and I don't get along so well these days, but they look fantastic.
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
You have no idea how much I love szechuan everything! Delicious!
Shop with Me Mama says
My mouth is totally watering for those right now! YUM!
Kathleen says
Oh my gosh, these look so so good. I need to put them on my menu list for this week!
Heather says
Is it wrong of me to want these for breakfast? YUMMY!!!!
Nichol says
I bet these are absolutely tasty!! YUM!
Gary Glen says
Good looking recipe! I've been wanting tacos lately, but hadn't thought about a Szechuan version. Can't wait to give them a try.
Annetta Powell says
That looks so delicious!