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Taiwanese Five-Spice Popcorn Chicken
Andre Lewis

Taiwanese Five-Spice Popcorn Chicken

Sweet-potato starch creates the pebbly, shattering coat that makes popcorn chicken different from ordinary nuggets. Five-spice stays restrained; too much takes the whole batch into candle territory. Fry the basil separately only if it's bone dry, because damp leaves spit violently in hot oil.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Total Time 41 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1 tsp grated garlic
  • 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground white pepper divided
  • 1 1/2 cups coarse sweet-potato starch
  • 4 cups canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Method
 

  1. Marinate the chicken with the soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, five-spice and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  2. Pour the sweet-potato starch into a shallow pan and press every piece of chicken into it until heavily pebbled.
  3. Rest the coated chicken for 10 minutes while heating the oil to 350°F.
  4. Fry one-third of the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring once, until crisp and 165°F in the largest piece.
  5. Drain the batch on a rack and bring the oil back to 350°F before adding more chicken.
  6. Mix the salt with the remaining white pepper and dust it over the hot finished chicken.
  7. Rest for 3 minutes and serve while the starch shell is still brittle.