Salt and Pepper Chicken

Eating at the Taiwanese night market is one of the best things ever: Grilled corn, sausages on a stick, taiyaki filled with chocolate, Taiwanese salt and pepper popcorn chicken (鹽酥雞)…The salty and peppery popcorn chicken, 鹽酥雞, usually came in little paper bag and I could eat two or three bags of the stuff. What makes this savory snack so different from the popcorn chicken that we have in the states is that it is aggressively seasoned so you don’t need to dip it in anything.

The main seasoning for 鹽酥雞 is close to a five spice powder — star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon, Szechuan peppercorns, cloves — but you can buy special 鹽酥雞 seasoning in Taiwan. However, my dad’s memory of night market salt and pepper chicken is not the same as my mom’s. One claims no five spice while the other one does.

Whatever, I’m just going to make it the way I want to.

For 2-3 servings:

1 lb.

boneless chicken thigh

1 tbsp. cornstarch

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. rice wine

1/2 tbsp. five spice powder

1/3 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. freshly ground Szechuan peppercorn (optional)

1/3 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/3 tsp. kosher salt

1 egg

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 cup all purpose flour

A few baby Thai basil leaves

Cut chicken into 1/2” to 3/4” pieces. Dissolve cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Mix slurry with soy sauce, rice wine, five spice, garlic powder, white pepper, Szechuan peppercorn (if using), black pepper, salt, egg, and sugar. Marinate chicken pieces in spice mixture for at least an hour. On medium heat, fill a wide heavy bottomed pan with about an half inch of vegetable oil. Coat the marinated chicken pieces evenly on a plate of all purpose flour.

Fry the coated chicken pieces until golden brown. Before taking out the fried chicken, fry the basil, about 20 to 30 seconds. Transfer chicken & basil leave on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.