P
Chinese
Kou Shui Ji (口水鸡) — Mouth-Watering Chicken: Sichuan Cold Dish
Kou shui ji (口水鸡, literally 'saliva chicken' or 'mouth-watering chicken') is a cold Sichuan dish of poached chicken sliced and dressed in a complex sauce of chilli oil, sesame paste, Sichuan peppercorn, light soy, dark soy, Chinkiang vinegar, and sugar, finished with peanuts, sesame seeds, and fresh coriander. It is one of the definitive expressions of Sichuan cold dish (liang cai 凉菜) cooking — the technique of building complex flavour on a simply cooked base. The name reportedly originates from Chengdu writer Li Jieren who described the dish as capable of making one's mouth water at the mere thought of it.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the poach
1 (about 1.5 kg)
whole chicken
or bone-in pieces of equivalent weight
Your own market
4 slices
fresh ginger
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 tsp
Sichuan peppercorns
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 stalks
scallion
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the ice bath
1 kg
ice
enough to fill a large bowl
Your own market
For the sauce
3 tbsp
chilli oil
with sediment
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
sesame paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
Sichuan peppercorn
toasted and ground
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
light soy sauce
1 tbsp
dark soy sauce
1 tsp
Chinkiang vinegar
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
sugar
Your own market
1 tsp
sesame oil
Your own market
To garnish
30 g
roasted peanuts
roughly crushed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
sesame seeds
toasted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 stalks
scallion
finely sliced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 small bunch
fresh coriander
leaves picked
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add the ginger slices, whole Sichuan peppercorns, and scallion stalks. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a near-boil. The water is ready to proceed when the surface shows the first strong tremor and fine bubbles rise from the base.
From the canon — Spring onion is the most ubiquitous aromatic in Chinese cooking and its function is more complex than its common use as a garnish suggests. SCALLION (SPRING ONION) TECHNIQUE →
2
Immediately reduce heat to the lowest setting. The water surface must barely tremble — a bare simmer, not a rolling boil. Poach for 20–25 minutes per kilogram of chicken. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: a boil at any point will seize the muscle fibres and produce dry, fibrous meat; the gentle, restrained heat alone delivers the silky skin and yielding flesh that define kou shui ji.
3
Pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer or fine knife. The chicken is done when the juices run completely clear with no trace of pink.
4
Lift the chicken immediately and plunge it into a large bowl of ice water. Hold it submerged until fully cold, at least 15 minutes. The skin will visibly tighten and take on a smooth, slightly translucent appearance — the defining textural quality of the dish.
5
While the chicken chills, whisk together in a bowl: the chilli oil with its sediment, sesame paste, ground Sichuan peppercorn, light soy, dark soy, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. Taste and adjust the soy-vinegar-sugar balance before proceeding. The sauce is ready when it is pourable yet thick enough that a spoon drawn through it leaves a momentary channel.
From the canon — Sichuan peppercorn (huā jiāo — flower pepper) — the dried berry of Zanthoxylum simulans or Zanthoxylum bungeanum — is not a pepper (Piper nigrum) but a citru… Sichuan Peppercorn: The Numbing Spice Surveyed →
6
Remove the chicken from the ice bath and drain. Chop through the bone into 2 cm pieces in the Chinese restaurant manner, or debone entirely for home service. Arrange on a flat platter.
7
Pour the sauce evenly over the arranged chicken. Scatter over the crushed peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallion, and coriander leaves. Serve at room temperature. The sauce should coat each piece and pool lightly at the base of the platter — not run off, not congeal.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — A free-range, slow-grown bird (poulet de Bresse type or equivalent Chinese black-footed chicken, wu gu ji); home-rendered chilli oil built from dried er jing tiao chillis; stone-ground sesame paste; hand-ground Sichuan peppercorn from the current harvest.
02
Estate — A quality free-range chicken; a well-made, sediment-rich commercial chilli oil (Lao Gan Ma or equivalent); good Chinese sesame paste; freshly toasted and ground Sichuan peppercorn.
03
Market — A standard supermarket free-range chicken; a reliable chilli oil; pre-ground Sichuan peppercorn purchased fresh within the year.
04
House — Any whole chicken; any available chilli oil; pre-ground Sichuan peppercorn from the spice rack. The technique — gentle poach and immediate ice bath — remains the irreducible minimum regardless of ingredient grade.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The poaching water surface barely trembles — no rolling boil at any point during the 20–25 minutes per kg.
◇Sight. Juices run completely clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced.
◇Touch. After the ice bath, the skin feels firm, smooth, and slightly taut under the finger — not slack or yielding.
◇Sight. The finished sauce coats a spoon and leaves a momentary channel when a finger is drawn through it — pourable but not watery.
◇Where it lives or dies. The poach must be held at the barest simmer throughout — any rolling boil will destroy the silky skin and yielding texture that the dish exists to deliver.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley Riesling
Ancient Lakes Vineyard — Cave B · Ancient Lakes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Wine
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance