What is Tori Chili?
Have you heard of “Tori Chili (鶏チリ)”? You might be more familiar with its seafood counterpart, “Ebi Chili (エビチリ)“—a popular Chinese-inspired Japanese fusion dish where prawns are coated in a sweet chili sauce.
Tori Chili is basically the same concept but with chicken instead of prawns (“tori” means chicken in Japanese). The chicken breast pieces are coated in a delicious sauce that perfectly balances sweetness and spice.
If you’ve enjoyed Ebi Chili, you’ll love this dish!
How I Developed This Recipe
While “tori chili” does just substitute chicken for shrimp, I wanted to create a different version rather than simply adapting my ebi chili recipe.
So, I made sure the sauce matched the flavor of chicken, and I used a special technique to keep the chicken breast really tender.
Then I decided to pair it with scrambled eggs, which was a great move—the combination is truly delicious, and I’m excited to share it. Give it a try and see for yourself!
Key Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Chicken Breast: You can use other parts of the chicken, but I’ve optimized this recipe for breast meat!
- Potato Starch: Feel free to use cornstarch or tapioca starch if that’s what you have in your pantry.
- Eggs: You’ll need to separate the eggs in this recipe but all of the yolks and whites will be used.
- Aromatics: The golden trio of aromatics! The white part of a Japanese leek (or regular leek), garlic cloves, and peeled ginger root should all be finely diced.
- Condiments: We’ve got chili bean paste (Toban Djan), sesame-based Asian chili oil (rayu), and toasted sesame oil for that perfect balance of heat and nutty flavor.
- Sauce: We’ve put together an irresistible sauce by combining chicken bouillon powder, dashi granules, sugar, tomato ketchup, and sake.
- Green Peas: These bright little gems add both color and a tasty textural contrast to the dish.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Tori Chili at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
This section aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the cooking steps and techniques with visuals. It also includes more in-depth tips and tricks and explains why I do what I do.
Cut the chicken breasts into uniform, large bite-sized pieces and put them in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and white pepper, then add the sake and mix well.
Separate one egg, saving the yolk for later. Add the egg white to the chicken and give it a good mix to make sure all the pieces are coated evenly.
Add the potato starch and mix until all the pieces are fully coated.
Finally, add the cooking oil.
Set it aside while you get the other ingredients ready.
Heat a large wok or frying pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add some oil and cook the chicken in a single layer until it’s golden brown on both sides.
Take the chicken out of the pan and put it on a plate while we make the sauce.
The chicken will finish cooking when you put it back in the sauce later.
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
Next, using the same pan, add a little more oil and fry the leeks, garlic, and ginger until they release their aroma.
Once you start to smell the aromas, add the chili bean paste and mix it all together, then fry for about one minute.
Next, add the prepared sauce to the pan.
After cooking for 1 to 2 minutes while mixing, return the chicken to the pan, and at the same time, add the green peas, lemon juice, chili oil, and sesame oil.
Mix thoroughly for about 1 minute.
Once they’re glossy and coated, turn off the heat.
Next, use a separate frying pan to make scrambled eggs using the remaining whole egg and egg yolk from earlier. You can make them however you like, but I used a method of heating the eggs slowly over low heat with butter.
Once you’ve made the dish, you’re all set to serve the tori chili with the scrambled eggs and enjoy with plain rice!
I hope you enjoy this Tori Chili recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Japanese Chicken Recipes
- The Best Crispy Japanese Teriyaki Chicken
- Authentic Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
- Yamachan Chicken Wings (Nagoya Style Tebasaki)
- Black Vinegar Chicken
Hungry for more? Explore my chicken recipe collection to find your next favorite dishes!
Tori Chili (Sweet & Spicy Chicken)
Ingredients
Prepping Chicken
- 300 g chicken breast
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch white pepper powder
- ½ tbsp sake
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp potato starch
- ½ tbsp cooking oil
Sauce
- 3 tbsp water
- ½ tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder (granules)
- ½ tsp dashi granules
Tori Chili
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- ½ Japanese leek (naganegi) white part, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves finely diced
- 1 tbsp ginger finely diced
- ½ tbsp chili bean sauce (tobanjan)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ tbsp chili oil
- 2 tbsp green peas
- finely chopped green onions optional garnish
Scrambled Eggs
- ½ tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut 300 g chicken breast into large bitesize pieces and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 pinch salt, 1 pinch white pepper powder and ½ tbsp sake. Mix thoroughly.
- Add 1 egg white to the bowl and save the yolk(s) for later. Mix until the chicken is fully covered.
- Add 1 tbsp potato starch and mix again until the chicken pieces are coated.
- Pour ½ tbsp cooking oil into the bowl and mix once more, then rest for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Take a small bowl and mix all of the sauce ingredients together. (3 tbsp water, ½ tbsp light brown sugar, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder (granules), ½ tsp dashi granules) Set by the stove for later.
- Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Once hot, add the chicken and fry until browned on both sides. Once there is no more pink, transfer the chicken to a plate and set by the stove for later.
- In the same pan, add a little more oil along with ½ Japanese leek (naganegi), 3 garlic cloves, and 1 tbsp ginger (all finely diced). Fry until fragrant.
- Add ½ tbsp chili bean sauce and mix well. Heat for 1 minute to release its flavor.
- Add the prepared sauce from earlier and heat until gently bubbling.
- Add the chicken back to the pan along with 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, ½ tbsp chili oil and 2 tbsp green peas.
- Cook until the ingredients are warmed through and the sauce is thick and glossy, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Take a new pan and heat on low. Melt ½ tbsp unsalted butter. Crack 1 egg into a bowl and add 1 egg yolk (leftover from earlier). Whisk and pour it into the pan. Mix continuously until cooked to your liking and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the scrambled egg and tori chili on the same plate and sprinkle with finely chopped green onions to garnish. Best served with white rice. Enjoy!
Hello Yuto
Danke auch für dieses außerordentlich leckere Rezept.
Das wird es auch wieder geben weil es sehr gemundet hat.
Ich habe noch Mantou dazu gemacht damit man den Teller schön sauber machen kann 😀
Alles gute 🙂
Liebe Kathleen,
Vielen Dank für Ihr schönes Feedback! Ich freue mich sehr, dass Ihnen das Rezept so gut geschmeckt hat. Die Idee mit den Mantou ist wirklich genial – perfekt um jeden Tropfen der Sauce zu genießen!
Herzlichen Dank, dass Sie das Rezept ausprobiert und das tolle Foto mit mir geteilt haben!
Alles Gute!
Yuto