For readers who’ve been to or lived in some parts of China, a big dish of “big plate chicken” (大盘鸡, da pan ji) is like coming home. It’s one of those dishes that has caught on like wildfire in larger Chinese cities, and many restaurants have added it to their menus. This Chinese chicken stew recipe originated in the Xinjiang, China where bold and tasty spices are used like in our Xinjiang Fried Chicken.
大盘鸡, da pan ji also has a special place in my heart, because it makes me miss China—especially all that wonderful food. We’re all reminiscing about it these days—the ability to just walk out of the apartment, hail a cab for 3 bucks, and have a big, wonderful meal for 20-30 bucks. You can’t beat it.
I’m not going to lie, authentic big plate chicken should probably be cooked with a whole chicken, cut into small pieces with bones and skin still intact. That’s how it’s made in restaurants in China, and it’s a well-known fact that Asians love to gnaw on bones (plus, meat on the bone tends to be more tender and juicier). I’ve decided not to put you through that whole chicken preparation process, so we’re going to use the next best thing: boneless chicken thighs.
I think the brilliance of “big plate chicken” is in the noodles at the bottom of the plate, which soak up all the wonderful sauce. We hope you and your families will enjoy this truly wonderful one plate meal! You’ll need:
Big Plate Chicken: Recipe Instructions
Start by marinating the chicken. Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a bowl with the light soy sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, and cornstarch. Set aside for 20 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
When you’re ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok over low heat. Add the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, whole dried red chilies, and sugar. Cook this mixture for 2 minutes, making sure they don’t burn.
Add the chicken and turn up the heat. Stir-fry until the chicken is seared.
Add the potatoes and carrots and stir-fry for a minute. Then add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium. Cover the wok and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
While the chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Follow the package instructions to cook the dried noodle of your choice (preferably a thicker-style flat noodle). Drain.
Once the potatoes are cooked through, by now, there should be at least 1 – 1-1/2 cup of liquid in the wok, so add more water if needed. To your wok, stir in the bell peppers. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the scallions, and season with salt to taste.
Note: If you want more sauce, add a little more water to the wok. If the sauce is too thin, just turn up the heat to reduce and thicken the sauce.
Now transfer the noodles to a large plate, and cover with your chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with scallions and serve immediately!
This Big Plate Chicken dish is a one plate meal with chicken, vegetables and noodles all in one dish. Enjoy this one folks!
Big Plate Chicken (Chinese Da Pan Ji) with Noodles
Ingredients
For marinating the chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
For the rest of the dish:
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 4 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 bay leaves
- 6 slices fresh ginger
- 5 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 6 -10 whole dried red chilies (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 1 carrot (thinly sliced)
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
- 3 - 5 cups water (start with 3 cups and add more as needed)
- 8 oz. dried noodle of your choice (preferably a thicker-style flat noodle)
- 1 red bell pepper (cut into chunks)
- 1 green bell pepper (cut into chunks)
- Salt to taste
- 1 scallion (sliced)
Instructions
- Start by marinating the chicken. Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a bowl with the marinade ingredients. Set aside for 20 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- When you're ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok over low heat. Add the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, chilies, and sugar. Cook this mixture for 2 minutes, making sure they don’t burn. Add the chicken and turn up the heat. Stir-fry until the chicken is seared.
- Add the potatoes and carrots and stir-fry for a minute. Then add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium. Cover the wok and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- While the chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Follow the package instructions to cook the noodles. Drain.
- Once the potatoes are cooked through, by now, there should be at least 1 1 1/2 cups of liquid in the wok so add more water if needed.To your wok, stir in the bell peppers. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste the dish and season with salt to taste. Now transfer the noodles to a large plate, and cover with your chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with scallions and serve immediately!
- Note: If you want more sauce, add a little more water to the wok. If the sauce is too thin, just turn up the heat to reduce and thicken the sauce.
nutrition facts
I made this last week as part of a full Uyghur meal for 8 friends, with cumin lamb skewers and Uyghur bread from a local bakery. The dish was a big hit. I found the first 3 cups of water gave more than enough sauce, so I never added any more.
My butcher left the bones in the chicken thighs so I just used them like that. It was fine because there are other things to warn people about leaving behind (bay leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise), so I mentioned some of the chicken had bones.
Noodle tip: I used Taiwanese broad petal-edged noodles from my local Chinese grocery shop and they worked really well.
“Uyghur meal for 8 friends” sounds like a lot of fun, glad everyone enjoyed this recipe :-)
Hi Judy, I made this dish last night and it was very good. One comment: shouldn’t the star anise, bay leaves and cinnamon stick be removed just before adding the chicken? – or are all these items left in to the end? I pulled them out just before serving. I also omitted the potatoes, after all the carbs in the noodles is enough. I also used Guilin chili sauce (1 teaspoon) in lieu of the chili. Thanks
Hi Frank, you did good by picking them out before serving. I am not as refined :-)
is it possible to make this in advance?
Not really, Luise.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It actually tasted better than the one I had in Urumqi. Maybe a bit more peppercorns for me next time.
Hehehe…this is what I like to hear :-)
I made this dish with wings, drumettes and less of the Sichuan peppercorns and it tasted great. I used less peppercorns than your recipe prescribes because even after several years my wife and I can’t get used to them. Besides the numbing effect, the peppercorns seem to make the food taste a lot saltier. Even drinks taste salty after consuming these tiny things. Are we the only ones who experience this salinity enhancing effect?
Hi Fred, can’t say I have the same experience.
Today I triying this da ban ji as shown in pictures.
I have tasted this in uromxi China, hope every thing goes right.
Chinese chef make this stuff excellent..
Hope you like it, Mujeeb.
I cooked this dish last night and it was a huge hit! I didn’t include the noodles to my dish since the potatoes are already starchy enough for me. I also added some sliced snow peas to add some more vibrance. It turned out great! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Hi Lia, thank you for sharing your success. You did really well! Happy wokking.
Hi,
I love all your recipes and almost always when I make them, the final product resembles the photos on the blog. My dapanji tastes great, but it doesn’t have the robust colour that yours does. What do you think I may have missed? I have gone over the recipe trying to figure out what I left out. Any ideas ?
Hi Lakshmi, the sauce of this dish is a medium brown color. The red bell pepper and the carrots also added a lot of color to the overall dish.
You need sugar to draw the colour ,put the sugar into the oil,then put the meat.
I know it sounds like I just wanna take the easy way out, but I was wondering, could this be made in a crock pot? Provided the chicken is cooked properly before hand, otherwise it would fall apart like pulled pork.
Hi Coco, I have never tried it as I don’t own a crock pot. Please let us know how it turns out if you decide to give it a try. Thank you so much!
Hi there!
Will it be alright to omit the shoxing wine? And will there be a stark difference in taste?
Hi Hajar, you can omit the shaoxing (rice) wine. The rice wine adds depth to the dish, but it should not stop you from cooking this recipe.