Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 鹽酥雞
Simple restaurant quality Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 鹽酥雞 recipe that'll make your friends and family think you ordered take-out!
Ingredients
- 2-3 Large chicken thigh meat , boneless with skin (approx. 1 – 1 ½ lbs)
- 1 Large egg
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- ½ tsp White pepper powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp 5 spice powder
- 1-2 clove Garlic , crushed (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 cup Sweet potato starch aka tapioca starch
- 2-3 cups Oil for deep frying
- 1 bunch Thai basil (approx. 20 leaves)
To sprinkle on the chicken after deep frying:
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1 tsp White pepper powder
Instructions
- Mix 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tsp white pepper, ½ tsp salt, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 1 egg and 1 tbsp cooking wine into mixing bowl to make marinade
- Cut chicken into approx. 1 ½ ”x 1 ½ ” pieces, add to marinade. Marinate for 15 minutes. Each piece of chicken should be completely covered with the egg marinade or else the starch will not stick
- Spread 1 cup of sweet potato starch onto plate evenly
- Place each piece of chicken into the starch. Each piece of chicken should be completely covered with starch
- Wait 5-10 minutes for the starch to melt onto the chicken
this way the starch won’t fall off as easily when frying - Heat oil to 150˚C or 300˚F
- Combine ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp 5 spice powder and ½ tsp white pepper powder in a bowl and set aside
- Add basil leaves to oil when oil is heating up
This is to infuse basil aroma into the oil When the leaves start to bubble around it, oil should be ready and remove leaves from oil 
- Place the pieces of chicken into oil and fry for 2 minutes or light yellow color, move the chicken around for even cooking. Do not overcrowd to prevent chicken from sticking together. Remove from oil
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat of the oil to approx. 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry the chicken pieces again for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Prior to removing chicken from the oil, put basil leaves into oil, stir for 5-10 seconds and remove chicken and basil from oil
- Sprinkle with the salt mixture set aside earlier and mix gently
Nutrition
Calories: 1246kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 12gFat: 123gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 1183mgPotassium: 155mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 209IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!