5-Spice Chicken And Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

This 5-spice chicken and broccoli stir fry is a quick and flavorful dish that combines tender chicken, crisp broccoli, and crunchy cashews in a savory sauce. This easy-to-prepare, unique dish crackles on the tongue and sparks with the bold, aromatic flavors of Sichuanese cuisine.

According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, the star of this recipe is the Chinese five-spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns, which adds depth and complexity to the dish. The recipe also incorporates an extra dash of crushed Szechuan peppercorns, which provide a unique numbing sensation known as "mala" in Chinese cuisine.

Despite its bold flavors, this stir fry is a perfect weeknight meal that can be made in half an hour. It's even customizable in terms of spice level, allowing you to dial back the heat to your preference. Served over rice or on its own, this stir fry offers a flavorful meal that combines all the food groups and is full of outstanding Asian-style flavors.

This Chinese-inspired dish is very easy to bring together. For the body of the dish, you'll need boneless, skinless chicken breasts and fresh broccoli florets. For the sauce, gather tamari or soy sauce, garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, and brown sugar. You'll also need cornstarch, Chinese five-spice powder, and Szechuan peppercorns for seasoning. Don't forget cashews for added crunch and scallions for garnish. To balance out the dish, we recommend serving it with rice.

Mix the cornstarch and ½ tablespoon of 5-spice powder.

Toss the chicken with the cornstarch and 5-spice mixture until coated.

Make the sauce by mixing tamari, garlic, ginger, hoisin, vinegar, sriracha, sugar, and 1 teaspoon 5-spice powder.

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat, add the chicken, and stir-fry until lightly browned, for 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan.

Add the broccoli and cashews to the pan with a touch of oil, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan, add the sauce and Szechuan peppercorns, and stir-fry until the sauce thickens, for about 2 minutes.

Garnish with scallions, and serve. You can accompany the dish with rice, if desired.

This fragrant dish pairs well with many Asian-inspired sides. For a more traditional, neutral accompaniment, serve it with steamed white rice to soak up all the flavorful sauce. For a lighter, less traditional option, go with cauliflower rice or quinoa. For another fusion twist, serve the stir fry in lettuce wraps, which will stand nice and cool against the hot, bold flavors of this chicken and broccoli recipe.

To really drive home the "mala" flavor, accompany the chicken with mapo tofu, one of the most famous Sichuanese dishes. To add more Chinese-inspired vegetables to your meal, try stir-fried bok choy, Chinese green beans, or a simple cucumber salad with soy sauce and rice vinegar. For more texture, serve it with spring rolls, crispy wontons, or homemade crab rangoon. As for drinks, a glass of cold Asian beer, plum wine, or hot green tea will all work wonders to cool down your tongue after all those peppers. 

Despite its use of many spices, this 5-spice chicken and broccoli dish is actually quite moderate in heat, and it can be easily adjusted for milder palates. For a milder version, reduce or omit the sriracha entirely. If you want to go in the other direction, to increase the spiciness in the sauce you can add more sriracha or include other hot sauces like chili oil or sambal oelek. 

The Szechuan peppercorns in this dish contribute to its unique flavor profile and introduce the sensation known as "mala." Mala is a distinctive characteristic of Sichuan cuisine, combining numbing (ma) and spicy (la) sensations. Szechuan peppercorns are not actually spicy in the conventional sense, but they create a tingling, numbing sensation on the tongue and lips. This numbing effect is caused by hydroxy-alpha sanshool, a molecule that stimulates touch receptors in the mouth. When combined with other spicy ingredients, it creates a complex and exciting taste experience, but it cannot be called traditionally spicy. More accurately, the mala sensation can be described as a buzzing or vibrating feeling, often compared to a mild electric current.

If your peppercorns are very fresh, the dish will taste stronger and more spicy. If you're new to this sensation, start with a smaller amount and gradually increase it until you find your preferred level of mala intensity.