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Chinese-style popcorn chicken

Matt Tebbutt recipe

Preparation time
overnight

Cooking time
10 to 30 mins

Serves
Serves 4

By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen

 

Ingredients

Marinated Chicken:

  • Boneless and skinless chicken thighs (cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces): 6
  • Garlic cloves (crushed): 3
  • Shaoxing rice wine: 2 tbsp
  • Fresh root ginger (grated): 1 tbsp
  • Chinese five-spice powder: 1½ tsp
  • Yoghurt or buttermilk: 150g/5½oz

Dredge:

  • Cornflour: 100g/3½oz
  • Chicken powder (or bouillon powder or a crumbled chicken stock cube): 1 tbsp
  • Caster sugar: 1 tsp

Glaze:

  • Doenjang (or light miso paste): ½ tsp
  • Korean rice syrup (or agave syrup): 5 tbsp
  • Light soy sauce: 50ml/2fl oz
  • Rice wine: 150ml/5fl oz
  • Red chilli (split): 1
  • Garlic cloves (smashed): 3
  • Fresh root ginger (smashed): 1 piece

Dip:

  • Light soy sauce: 1 tbsp
  • Chinese black vinegar: 1 tbsp
  • Sriracha: 1 tbsp

Garnish:

  • Japanese-style mayonnaise (to taste): 100g/3½ oz
  • Dried chilli flakes (pinch)
  • Sichuan peppercorns (toasted in a dry frying pan until fragrant, crushed): 1 tbsp
  • Fresh basil (deep-fried, 1 bunch)
  • Crispy chilli oil (to taste): 1–2 tbsp
Alternative Ingredients
  1. Korean rice syrup
    If you can’t get Korean rice syrup or agave syrup then you could substitute with Honey which has natural sweetness.
  2. Doenjang
    Doenjang and miso share some characteristics and can therefore be used in place of one another in a pinch, with some important caveats. Doenjang has a much saltier, funkier flavour than miso so should be used in smaller quantities when substituting it for miso
  3. Shaoxing rice wine
    Dry sherry:     is a suitable replacement for cooking. It has sweet and nutty flavours that come close to Shaoxing and rice wine. Use slightly less than the recipe calls for, as sherry’s flavours are stronger and could overpower the dish.
    Mirin: Mirin is a Japanese rice wine used for cooking. It’s sweeter than Shaoxing but works well as a substitute

Method

  1. Marinated Chicken:
    • Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
    • Cover and chill the mixture in the fridge overnight.
  2. Cooking:
    • When ready to cook, heat a deep fat fryer to 180°C. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous; do not leave unattended.)
    • Prepare the dredge:
        • Mix cornflour, chicken powder (or stock cube), and sugar until combined.
        • Remove the chicken from the marinade and dredge it through the seasoned cornflour.
    • Carefully lower the chicken in batches into the fryer and cook for 1–3 minutes or until golden-brown and cooked through.
    • Use a metal slotted spoon to remove the chicken and transfer it to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
    • Deep-fry the basil leaves for 30 seconds until crisp, then remove and drain on a separate lined plate.
  3. Glaze:
    • Add all the glaze ingredients to a saucepan and simmer over low heat until reduced to a sticky glaze.
    • Remove the ginger and garlic, and spoon the glaze over the fried chicken.
  4. Dip:
    • Mix all the dip ingredients together and set aside.
  5. Serving:
    • Serve the glazed popcorn chicken on a platter.
    • Squeeze Japanese mayonnaise in a zig-zag pattern over the chicken.
    • Sprinkle with Sichuan pepper, chili flakes, and fried basil leaves.
    • Serve with the dip and chili oil alongside.

 

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