Taiwanese night market chicken recipe
Renowned food writer Susan Jung has spent her career delving into the intricacies of Asian cuisine. Her latest cookbook, Kung Pao & Beyond, pays homage to the many ways fried chicken is served in East and Southeast Asian cuisines, showcasing distinct flavours from all over the region.
Take this Taiwanese night market chicken recipe. Inspired by the street food of Taiwan's famous night markets, it’s the next best thing to actually being there, surrounded by irresistible aromas and the sizzle of chicken being dropped into vats of hot oil.
“One of my favourite things to do whenever I visit Taipei is to go to the night markets for a few hours of snacking,” says Susan. “There’s always a queue at the fried chicken vendor, which sells large or even extra-large flattened chicken breasts. They won’t cut it for you, explaining that it will make the juices escape. My preference is for the fried chicken nuggets, which, like the large breasts, are dusted with a sweet-savoury-spicy seasoned salt and served with fried basil leaves.”
Things to note:
Don’t wash the basil leaves before using them. Remove the leaves from any packaging and lay them to dry on a dish towel. If there’s moisture on the leaves when you fry them, the oil will splatter excessively.
On top of the cooking and prep time, allow at least 1.5 hours to rest and marinate the chicken.
You can make the sweet potato coating ahead of time and store it in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Be sure to shake the container before using the mix, to redistribute the ingredients.
If you don’t have any cake flour, simply substitute with the same amount of plain (all-purpose) flour, then remove 2 tbsp of flour and add 2 tbsp of cornflour (cornstarch). Sift together so it’s well combined.
You’ll need a thermometer to check the oil has reached the correct frying temperature. 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
- 800 g boneless chicken breast
- 1 tbsp coarse salt flakes
- 30 g ginger, peeled
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 4 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp white pepper, finely ground
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1.5 tsp Tianjin chilli powder
- 100 g sweet potato flour coating mix (see below)
- 3 tbsp iced water
- 120 g sweet potato flour
- 750 ml cooking oil, for frying
- 60 g holy basil leaves
- 1 tsp coarse salt flakes
- 1.5 tsp granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp Tianjin chilli powder
- 1 tsp white pepper, finely ground
- 0.8 tsp five-spice powder
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 120 g sweet potato flour
- 80 g cake flour
- 1 tsp coarse salt flakes
- 1 tsp baking powder
Details
- Cuisine: Asian
- Recipe Type: Chicken
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 50 mins
- Cooking Time: 60 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Butterfly the chicken breasts cut them into 4 cm (1½ in) chunks and put them in a bowl.
- Add the salt, mix well and leave for 30 minutes.
- Use a fine grater to grate the ginger and garlic to a smooth paste, then weigh out 20g (¾oz) of each. Mix the ginger and garlic with the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, white pepper, five-spice and chilli powder. Add this to the chicken and mix well, then leave to marinate at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the seasoning salt. Set aside.
- Make the sweet potato flour coating. Whisk together both flours, then add the salt. Use a small sieve to sift the baking powder directly into the mixing bowl, then whisk again.
- Sprinkle the coating mix over the chicken and add the iced water to create a batter that coats the pieces lightly and evenly. If necessary, mix in more iced water to adjust the consistency.
- Dredge the battered chicken pieces in the sweet potato flour, shake off the excess, and then lay them on a cooling rack placed over a tray.
- Pour the cooking oil into a pan, preferably a medium wok, set over medium heat. Fry the basil leaves at 160°C (320°F) until translucent. Drain them on paper towels. Fry the chicken at 160°C (320°F) in 4-5 batches.
- Fry each batch for 1 minute, then drain on the cooling rack placed over the tray. Let the pieces rest for 5 minutes, then fry them a second time at 170°C (340°F) for 1 minute. As soon as each batch has been fried a second time, drain it briefly, then put the pieces in a metal bowl.
- Sprinkle lightly with some of the seasoning salt and mix and toss the pieces so they are evenly seasoned. Put the pieces on a rack to finish cooling, then repeat the process with each batch of chicken.
- Pile the chicken pieces on a serving plate and add the fried basil leaves. Serve the remaining seasoning salt on the side, for diners to add to taste.
Recipe adapted from Kung Pao & Beyond by Susan Jung. (Quadrille). Photography by Yuki Sugiura.
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