Shanghai Chicken

Name: Shanghai Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 pound chicken thighs (cut in 1 1/2 inch pieces); 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine ((Chinese Rice wine)); 1 tablespoon soy sauce (for the marinade); 2 tablespoon vegetable oil (or avocado, canola or peanut oil); 1 tablespoon soy sauce (for the sauce); 1 teaspoon grated ginger; 2 garlic cloves (minced); 2 teaspoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar); 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice; 2 tablespoons chicken stock; 1 bunch green onions (cut in 1 inch pieces (2 tablespoons chopped reserved for garnish))

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Savory with a hint of sweetness, this Shanghai Chicken is an easy chicken recipe that’ll get you through busy weeknights. It only takes around 10 minutes to cook up after allowing the chicken to marinade.

This easy chicken recipe is sweet, savory, and tangy all at the same time thanks to all the flavors added to the marinade and chicken. You'll love how absolutely flavorful this is and how it can stand out on it's own.

Close up of a plate with rice, shanghai chicken, and green onions.

Since the chicken thighs are cubed, you save so much time cooking them in the wok. There's also way more flavorful as the sauce coats more surface area for each bite of chicken compared to a whole thigh.

Trust me, you'll love how tasty this is - almost as much as as this droolworthy twice cooked pork (nothing beats out pork, but this Shanghai chicken sure does come pretty close).

In addition to the sauce, we heat up some ginger, garlic, and green onions in hot oil and your kitchen will smell so amazing as the aromatic blooms in the wok.

If you're a fan of stir fried chicken recipes (is anyone not??), I think you'll also love this kung pao chicken or tangerine chicken. And if you have an air fryer, this air fryer orange chicken and air fryer general tso's chicken is fire!

Check out the Shanghai Chicken story!

Why This Recipe Works

This is quite an easy recipe. Don’t let the multiple steps in the recipe card fool you, you simply marinate the chicken and then stir fry it.
It’s so flavorful. Marinating the chicken ahead of time really gets the chicken thighs flavorful and tender. Every bite you take is packed with umami.
You can make this ahead of time! Either marinate your chicken the night before or make extra to pack for lunch the next day, this recipe is flexible and reheats really well.

The Ingredients

The full list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients needed to make shanghai chicken.

Chicken thighs — Use boneless skinless chicken thighs to easily cut them into 1 ½ inch pieces.

Cornstarch — The cornstarch gives your chicken a nice crust when it’s cooked up. If you don’t have cornstarch on hand, potato starch can work as well.

Shaoxing wine — I LOVE to use this Chinese cooking wine in my recipes. It has a wonderful flavor and also aids in helping to keep the chicken tender. You can also substitute a dry sherry for this.

Chinese five spice — Chinese five spice is a blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and pepper. Traditionally made with Sichuan peppercorns, many versions found in the US use regular black pepper in the mix. It's a wonderful warm spice that complements savory dishes well.

Chicken stock — I suggest using low sodium chicken stock or no salt added as the other ingredients such as soy sauce and Shaoxing wine are salty themselves. Try my homemade Crockpot Chicken Broth.

Step By Step Instructions

Combining cornstarch, Shaoxing wine, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.

Combine the cornstarch, Shaoxing wine and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in a bowl and mix to combine.

Marinating chicken cut into cubes in a bowl.

Stir in the chicken and let marinade for 30-60 minutes.

Combining soy sauce, coconut sugar, chicken stock and five spice in a bowl.

While the chicken is marinating, combine the remaining soy sauce, coconut sugar, chicken stock and five spice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Heat a wok (or a large cast iron or nonstick skillet) on high heat until it starts to smoke.

Add the oil, let it heat for 10 seconds, then add half the chicken.

Stir fry for about 2-3 minutes, until chicken is browned and a crust has formed on the outside.

Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add additional oil to the wok if needed (there should be at least 1 tablespoon of oil remaining).

Add the remaining chicken and stir fry in the same manner as the first. Remove and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the green onions (reserving the 2 tablespoons of chopped green onions for garnish) and cook for about 30 seconds.

Turn the heat back to high and add the chicken and the sauce to the wok.

Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coated the chicken.

Remove from heat and serve garnished with green onions, sesame seeds (optional) and white rice, fried rice, or coconut jasmine rice.

Plate of rice with shanghai chicken and green onions.

Expert Tips

Stir fry in two batches. Stir frying the chicken in 2 batches ensures the pan stays hot and lets the crust form on the outside.
Feel free to marinate the chicken the night before to save some time cooking. Simply remove from the fridge for 10 or so minutes before cooking so the chicken is closer to room temperature and will cook evenly.
If you’d like to swap chicken thighs for chicken breasts, you’ll have to decrease the cooking time as it doesn’t take as long as thighs and it’ll dry out faster.
If your sauce is not thickening to coat the chicken, you can add a cornstarch slurry to it to help it out. Simply mix 1 tablespoon of cold water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and add to the sauce.

Close up of shanghai chicken with green onions.

Common Questions

What is Shaoxing wine?

Shaoxing wine is a type of Chinese rice wine that is named after the city it is from, Shaoxing. It is a cooking wine and is quite salty so using a regular bottled wine is not an adequate substitution. The best option if you do not have Shaoxing wine is using dry sherry, mirin, or Japanese cooking wine.

Can I use a different oil?

You want to use an oil that has a high smoke-point when stir frying. I suggest avocado, canola or peanut oil if you don’t want to use vegetable oil.

What if I don’t have fresh ginger or garlic?

You could add ground ginger or garlic powder in the marinade to add the flavor to it. I suggest you use ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger for every 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder for every fresh clove.

Did you make this Shanghai chicken recipe? rate it and leave a comment below to let me know how it turned out!