I made Sichuan chicken again in the air fryer with a modified recipe from the manufacturer, modified since despite being intended for this specific model, it frankly didn't work at the portions given in the time given. Essentially I halve the portions, but keep about 2/3 of the non-protein ingredients, except the onions, garlic and peppers, which I make with the full portion, so it's pretty heavy on veggies.
The only ingredient I actually added was whole star anise (remove after cooking). I tried grinding them with the rest of the dry ingredients but it was a bit too intense. I also seriously reduced the cornstarch and you might wish to omit that entirely and just reduce the sauce a bit after cooking.
Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken thighs, diced
3 dried whole red chilies (I used Thai)
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons tamari (or the soy of your preference)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
1/4 or 1/2 superhot (I have used Carolina Reaper and Ghost) or more normal pepper like a sliced fresh Thai chili
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar or Shaoxing cooking wine (mirin or sake would do as well)
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns (or to taste)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or a slightly lesser amount of table salt)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice blend
equivalent of 1 large bell pepper (I use those tiny multicolored sweet peppers)
1 medium onion of preferred type, coarsely chopped (original recipe specifies thinly but I prefer chunks)
3 whole star anise (it is already in the five spice blend but I like more)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
rice for serving (of any preferred variety although I use white basmati)
green onions or scallions for garnish
Dice the chicken thighs the previous night and make a marinade of whatever of the sauce ingredients you want, marinade overnight. I based this more on the price and easy availability of the items since the marinade gets chucked anyway. I used tamari, oil, rice vinegar, ginger, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, salt, dried peppers, and chili garlic sauce. This step is optional and not in the original.
The subsequent day, remove the chicken and throw away the marinade.
In a medium lidded bowl, mix the chicken and liquid ingredients. Lightly dry roast the dry spice ingredients other than the star anise and dried peppers, then when they become aromatic (about a couple minutes) grind them in a spice grinder (or just a coffee grinder like I do being a pleb). Be careful if you add a superhot to the mix as it will nuke your lungs if you inhale. You may wish to skip dry roasting the superhot if you're using it. Add to the bowl.
Let them blend for about 20 minutes to an hour at room temperature with the lid on.
Remove the crisper tray from the air fryer vessel and preheat to 400, then add the mixture and set it for 15 minutes, with the "shake" option to give an alarm when it's ready to be stirred, in the middle of the process, or just remember.
While waiting, chop the peppers into strips and the onions however you choose. The original recipe said to put them in after marinading but before cooking, but I prefer them cooked but crisp. YMMV.
At the midpoint, stir in the peppers and onions and cornstarch (if desired) and resume cooking.
After 15 minutes, check whether they're done, and continue cooking to taste. While you don't get actual wok-fu this way, leaving it alone for most of the cooking gets a nice sear on the exposed parts of the chicken.
Remove the star anise (and the dried peppers if you do that and it is customary not to eat them but I personally chew them up).
Serve over rice, top with green onions/scallions.
Should serve two, or one twice especially if people back away warily when you offer them some. Even if you don't add any superhots to this, it will be fairly robust, especially if you chew up the dried peppers. With superhot in the dried spice mixture, it is insane with even half a Reaper, so don't do that unless you know what you're getting into.
You could probably also get away with throwing some MSG into this if you felt you really wanted that Chinese strip mall restaurant experience, but I don't. I also sometimes throw in a dash of fish sauce instead of the salt.