Taiwanese Chicken Popcorn Recipe

Cooking Directions

• STEP 1.For Chinese salt and pepper seasoning, in a cast iron skillet add 2 tbsp sichuan peppercorn and 1 tbsp white peppercorns. Toast on low heat for a few minutes. Do not let the sichuan peppercorn turn black else it will give a bitter taste. Remove from the flame and transfer to a bowl.
• STEP 2.Return the skillet to low heat and add 1 ½ tbsp salt and toast for a few minutes to dry any moisture. This will help the salt & pepper seasoning to last longer. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
• STEP 3.Transfer the toasted peppercorns to a grinding jar and grind to a fine powder.
• STEP 4.Add the salt to the grinding jar and blend for a few seconds till combined. Let it cool and store it in an airtight container.
• STEP 5.For the chicken popcorn, cut 500 gms chicken breast into small bite sized pieces/ cubes of ⅔ inch.
• STEP 6.Transfer the pieces to a large mixing bowl and add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 ¼ tsp salt, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tsp grated ginger, ½ tsp onion powder, 2 tbsp all purpose flour, 1 egg white, 2 tbsp orange juice. Mix well till chicken pieces are well coated with all the ingredients. Cover and let it marinate for 15 minutes.
• STEP 7.In a deep flat bottomed container place a layer of sweet potato starch at the bottom.Then arrange the pieces of chicken on the starch. Dust more sweet potato starch ove the chicken and use chopsticks to stir it to ensure they are coated well. Toss them in the potato starch.Then take the coated pieces out of the bowl and shake them to remove any extra starch. Keep them aside. Repeat this process till all the pieces of chicken have been coated with sweet potato starch.
• STEP 8.Let the coated chicken sit separated in a flat layer for 15 minutes.
• STEP 9.In a wok add 2 ½ cups oil and heat it to 350 degrees fahrenheit . Do not fry all the pieces at once to avoid crowding the wok. Gently push the pieces about so that they don't stick together and to allow them to fry evenly. Fry on medium heat.
• STEP 10. While chicken is frying, pick a handful of Thai basil.
• STEP 11. When the chicken pieces are a light golden brown, quickly add the basil leaves to the wok.
• STEP 12. Hold a lid over the wok to avoid being splashed by the hot spluttering oil after adding the leaves.
• STEP 13.Fry the basil for less than 10 seconds, else they may burn. Using a sieve take the chicken pieces and the basil out of the wok. Place then on kitchen paper towels.
• STEP 14.Using a strainer remove the fried bits remaining in the oil. Then add the next batch of chicken when the oil has come back up to the correct temperature.
• STEP 15.Serve the chicken in a bowl. Dust with the prepared chinese salt and pepper mix. Add a few shakes of chilli flakes (optional).
• STEP 16.Taiwanese chicken popcorn is ready.