Chicken poppers with instant noodle coating recipe
You could say Susan Jung is an authority on Asian cuisine. She was food and drinks editor for the South China Morning Post for 25 years, is now food columnist for Vogue Hong Kong. She’s also an academy chair for World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Now, she’s on a quest to become an authority on fried chicken – and the unique flavours that cooks in East and Southeast Asia have brought to it – through her latest cookbook, Kung Pao & Beyond.
It’s filled with clever tricks and twists, like these chicken poppers rolled in broken instant noodles – Susan’s secret ingredient for a super-crispy coating.
"I came up with the idea for this dish after listening to two friends talk about instant noodles," says Susan. "I wondered how instant noodles would work as a coating for fried chicken. It was one of the easiest fried chicken dishes I’ve made, and the noodles fried up spicy and crunchy."
Susan recommends pairing these crispy chicken poppers with soju, a popular distilled Korean grain-based spirit, or with a cold beer.
Things to note:
You can use any instant noodles, but make sure the seasoning packet is a dry mix, not a paste, and don’t use any oil or dehydrated vegetables that may come in the packet.
You’ll need a cooking thermometer to check the oil is at the correct temperature for frying the chicken. Alternatively, drop a small piece of bread or a lump of batter into the oil. It should take between 30-40 seconds to brown; any faster and the chicken won’t cook through.
Bear in mind that the oil the temperature will plummet as you add the chicken, so you'll need to bring it up again between batches.
For US ingredients and measurements, use the drop-down menu and select 'Cups'.
Ingredients
- 450 g boneless chicken thighs
- 0.75 tsp coarse salt crystals
- 3 packets of instant noodles
- 60 g potato, sweet potato or tapioca flour
- 2 eggs
- 750 ml cooking oil, for frying
- 15.9 oz boneless chicken thighs
- 0.75 tsp coarse salt crystals
- 3 packets of instant noodles
- 2.1 oz potato, sweet potato or tapioca flour
- 2 eggs
- 26.4 fl oz cooking oil, for frying
- 15.9 oz boneless chicken thighs
- 0.75 tsp coarse salt crystals
- 3 packets of instant noodles
- 2.1 oz potato, sweet potato or tapioca flour
- 2 eggs
- 3.2 cups cooking oil, for frying
Details
- Cuisine: Asian
- Recipe Type: Chicken
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Butterfly the chicken thighs and cut them into 2.5 cm (1 in) chunks and put them in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the salt over the chicken, mix well, then set aside for at least 10 minutes.
- Put the noodles with the contents of the dry seasoning packs in a food processor. Blitz until the noodles are about the size of rice grains.
- Put the potato, sweet potato or tapioca flour in a shallow dish. Whisk the eggs in another shallow dish and put the instant noodles in a third dish.
- Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour and shake off the excess, then dip them in the egg. Finally, roll them in the instant noodles, pressing firmly so they adhere.
- Pour the cooking oil into a pan, preferably a medium wok, set over medium heat.
- Once the oil reaches 160°C (320°F), fry the chicken in two batches.
- Fry the pieces for 4 minutes, then put them on a cooling rack placed over a tray.
Recipe adapted from Kung Pao & Beyond by Susan Jung (Quadrille, £20). Photography by Yuki Sugiura.
You might also like:
Pajeon: Korean spring onion pancake recipe
Comments
Be the first to comment
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature