Chilli Ginger Chicken

Chilli Ginger Chicken Pakistani-Chinese Style

For weekend dinners, the whole family eats together and they expect something special, sumptuous and comforting -something that they can enjoy sitting on the lounge couch while watching a movie. A long list of glamorous dishes comes to your mind BUT the problem is you are exhausted after a whole week of waking up early, finishing chores, running after kids and going to bed late. You don’t want to stand in front of the stove for hours. Now you have two choices – order a pizza (which is so mundane plus you are watching your weight) or get your hands on a recipe that fulfils all your family’s requirements without killing you. So here is one such recipe from the Pakistani Chinese cuisine – Chilli Ginger Chicken to spice up your weekend.

What Is Pakistani-Chinese Cuisine?

Yes, the lovely fusion of Pakistani flavors and Chinese ingredients has evolved into a cuisine in its self. Majority of Pakistanis in urban areas love their Chinese food. This fusion has been the natural outcome of a long relationship that the Chinese have had with the Subcontinent. Most Chinese food found here belongs to a variant called Indo-Chinese Food and more specifically, Pakistani-Chinese food. The dishes are mostly a collection of tangy, sticky, sweet and spicy sauces that cling to different juicy chunks of meats, served over fried vegetable rice or chow mein noodles. For a long time the chefs were Chinese immigrants only but the popularity of the cuisine has inspired local chefs to train under them.

Evolution of Pakistani-Chinese Cuisine

Chinese immigrants started settling down in the Subcontinent around the 18th Century during the British Raj. Among them were traders, shopkeepers, artisans and food stall owners. A.B.C Restaurant in the Saddar area of Karachi is believed to be the first Chinese restaurant in Pakistan which was established in 1950s and lasted till late 1980s. 70s and 80s were the decades when Chinese restaurants took over Pakistani food scene by storm. Mei Kong became one of the first most popular restaurants that opened up branches in different cities. Chinese restaurants mushroomed at every neighborhood corner. Women and young girls enthusiastically gathered recipes and attended Chinese cooking courses. We love it almost as much as our own desi cuisine. It has survived and given tough competition to the Italian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, French and Japanese foods in Pakistan through the years.

Similarities & Differences

Pakistani- Chinese food is mostly inspired by Cantonese, Hunan and Szechuan flavors and cooking methods. Sauces and soups thickened by corn starch resemble closely to the familiar texture of curries and shorbas, as do cooking techniques of shallow or deep frying, steaming and braising. Ingredients such as sugar, salt, vinegar, garlic, ginger, chilli peppers, black pepper, five-spice powder are sufficient to enhance the flavor. Be it the meat heavy Cantonese dishes, the oil rich, multilayered Hunan’s array of tongue-tangling flavors or Sichuan’s numbing, spicy cuisine, we’ve simply adapted the dishes to the local taste buds. . To satisfy Pakistani taste buds, restaurants add generous quantities of tomato ketchup, green chilli peppers and hot sauce to dishes.