Recipe: Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

As a teenager, my go to order at Quickly's was a large mango green tea and popcorn chicken. They are called chicken nuggets on the menu, but not the typical fast food processed chicken type. These are actual chunks of chicken thigh meat, marinated, dredged, deep fried and dusted with a special seasoning. I actually don't know why Quickly's renamed them as nuggets - maybe because it’s associated with the shape and not the texture? The more traditional version is actually a popular Taiwanese street food called Popcorn Chicken, or Salt and Pepper Chicken (yan su ji) and it's served with fried Thai basil leaves.

I fine tuned a recipe to accommodate my family’s tastes. I know the “but this recipe isn’t traditional/authentic” police will come for me but this is how we enjoy it. I opted out of using sweet potato starch, I didn’t use spices imported from Taiwan, and I didn’t add some marinade liquid to the starch to create the ultimate craggily bits before dredging. I am aware of everything I’ve done “wrong”.

If you are able to, please purchase Thai basil for this recipe. It has a purple stem and a strong licorice scent, but doesn't taste like licorice so don't worry. If it did, it would be in my trash can right now instead of in my stomach.

There are two groups of people; people who hate licorice and people who love it.

But trust me, licorice haters. This will not taste like you stir fried chicken with a package of Twizzlers.

If you can't find Thai basil, other varieties of basil will do as well. I've used whatever basil I can find, whether it's from H-mart or the Italian basil from my backyard, and both work fine.

Two other ingredients that you will need are spice salt and five spice powder. Spice salt is what Chinese cooks use for salt & pepper dishes such as salt and pepper shrimp, salt and pepper squid, or salt and pepper pork chops. It is a seasoned salt that has a slightly smoky taste, and has a small amount of five spice, but not enough for this recipe so we are adding more separately. It also goes by salt and pepper seasoning. If you can't find this you can use regular salt.

The five spice powder is sold at most Asian grocery stores but I am starting to see it at regular supermarkets like Kroger. The five spices are star anise, fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

I’m using egg whites to dredge instead of the whole egg because by removing the yolk there’s less fat creating a lighter crispier shell. Whisking it to make it frothy creates air bubbles doubling the effect.

It is also worth using the combination of potato starch and cornstarch. Personally I think using 100% potato starch makes it a bit too crumbly, 100% cornstarch makes it not crumbly enough, and 50/50 makes it juuuuuust right. I know the real OGs use sweet potato starch for the ultimate craggly bits, and you can do this if you’d like.

---

Instructions with photos:

Combine the chicken, soy sauce, cooking wine, five spice powder, 1/2 tsp. spice salt and garlic in a bowl. Let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

I know, I forgot the garlic until the last minute. But let's pretend it's there in the photo.

Remove all the basil leaves from the stems. Wash and dry leaves well to prevent from splattering when frying later.

In a small bowl, whisk an egg white until frothy, pour into marinated chicken and mix well.

Combine the starches on a large plate. Dredge the chicken pieces.

In a large skillet, add 1 cup of oil and turn to medium high heat or 350 degrees. Test the oil by sprinkling a bit of the cornstarch in; if it bubbles and rises up it is ready to use. Gently place each piece of chicken in one at a time, being sure they don't stick together so they cook evenly.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, then set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.

Repeat the frying process until all the chicken is cooked. Turn heat off.

But waaaaaaaaiiiitttt...there's more (to this process)!

Using the remaining oil in the pan, fry the basil leaves until crispy. Excuse my photo as there’s not enough oil in it, but imagine there is. The basil WILL splatter if not dried well, so be cautious while dropping into the oil. Use a slotted spoon to take the basil out of oil and add to the chicken.

Place the chicken and basil in the cleaned out pan or a large bowl, add spice salt + five spice, toss together until all combined. Dust with cayenne powder to make it spicy (optional). Serve immediately.

---

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

serves 4

difficulty: moderate

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, de-boned and skin removed, cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce

• 1 Tbsp. Chinese cooking wine

• 1 tsp. Five spice powder

• 1/2 tsp. Spice salt

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 egg white, whisked until frothy

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1/4 cup potato starch

• 2 cups basil leaves, washed and dried well

• 1/2 tsp. spice salt + 1/2 tsp. Five spice powder for dusting

• cayenne powder (optional for dusting)

• 1 cup neutral oil for frying*

Dipping Sauce (optional):

• Kewpie mayo

• Sriracha sauce

• Togarashi seasoning

Instructions:

1. Combine the chicken, soy sauce, cooking wine, five spice powder, spice salt and garlic in a bowl. Let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, whisk an egg white until frothy, pour into marinated chicken and mix well.

3. In a large skillet, add 1 cup of oil and turn to medium high heat, or until it reaches 350 degrees.

   *If you want to deep fry instead, by all means go for it. Heat enough oil to 350 degrees. Deep fry for approx. 5 minutes. And use a wok if you have one, it makes life easier.

4. Combine the potato starch/cornstarch blend on a large plate. Dredge the chicken pieces in the starches. Test the oil by sprinkling a bit of starch in; if it bubbles and rises up it is ready to use. Gently place each piece of chicken in one at a time, being sure they don't stick together so they cook evenly. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, then set aside on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat the frying process until all the chicken is cooked.

5. Using the remaining oil in the pan, fry the basil leaves until crispy. The basil WILL splatter if not dried well, so be cautious while dropping into the oil. Use a slotted spoon to take the basil out of oil and add to the chicken. Put the chicken and basil in a large bowl, sprinkle spice salt + five spice, toss together until all combined. Dust with chili powder to make it spicy. Serve immediately.

6. Sauce is optional: combine kewpie mayo and sriracha, adjust according to taste, sprinkle togarashi on top.

---