Difficulty Level: Medium
Hands-on Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours (mostly for marinating time)
Introduction and History of the Dish
Taiwanese “popcorn” chicken (also called salted crispy chicken, or salt and pepper chicken) originated from the northern part of old Tainan City, the culinary center of Taiwan, around 1979. A newly married couple, surnamed Yeh, who worked during the day at the family’s chicken farm, opened a food stand at the well-known An-pin night market, selling KFC style fried chicken, which was very popular in Taiwan at that time. Seeing that it was difficult to eat the American style fried chicken in a convenient and elegant way due to the large size of the pieces, Ms. Yeh cleverly improved the recipe by using mostly boneless meat, cut into smaller pieces, marinated in a sauce, and then coating them in sweet potato flour before frying. Customers were then able to pick up the bite-sized chicken chunks with thin bamboo sticks (similar to longer toothpicks), and enjoy the delicious snack while keeping their fingers clean. Also different from the American style fried chicken, Ms. Yeh added pepper salt and chili powder to give the chicken an extra kick of flavor. Because of this special salt and pepper taste, Yeh named the dish “salted crispy chicken” (鹽酥雞 | kiâm-soo-ke in Taiwanese | yán-sū-jī in Mandarin). This special snack soon became popular throughout Taiwan, and remains one of the country’s must-have street foods today.
Air fryers have become quite popular over the past few years; they allow a pseudo deep fried food feel without using near as much oil. We decided to try the air fryer with a very popular Taiwanese street food / tea shop snack, popcorn chicken, that traditionally has been deep fried. We think you will agree it was a success, with a nice crispy exterior, juicy interior, without the greasiness that sometimes plagues the true deep fried version.
Optional Pairings
Taiwan Beer, or a good local beer. Or of course bubble tea.
Gear
- Air fryer (we used a Philips HD9220/26 AirFryer, but any air fryer should work)
- Chef’s knife
- 2 Medium or large mixing bowls
- Plastic wrap (or something to cover the bowl)
- Chopsticks
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
| Measure | Ingredient name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Pounds | Boneless chicken thighs | Thighs work better due to being more moist and better chicken flavor |
| 2 | Eggs | ||
| 16 | Oz. | Sweet potato flour | |
| 6 | Oz. | Fresh basil | Preferably Thai basil |
| 1 | Clove | Garlic | Remove the outer hard skin |
| 3 | Tbsp. | Ginger | When buying, look for fresher, less wrinkled hands |
| 3 | Tbsp. | Rice wine (Taiwanese cooking michiu) | Use sake as an alternate |
| 9 | Tbsp. | Soy sauce | Regular or low sodium |
| 6 | Tbsp. | Oil | Use your favorite oil; olive, coconut, or bacon drippings all work |
| 3 | Tbsp. | Sugar (white or brown) | |
| ¾ | Tsp. | Sea salt | |
| 1 | Tsp. | Pepper salt for fried chicken (optional) | |
| 2 | Tsp. | White pepper powder | |
| 2 | Tsp. | Five spice powder | |
| 3 | Tsp. | Dashi seasoning (optional) | Look for the ones with no MSG
|
Instructions
Prep:
Marinate the Chicken (15 minutes preparation; marinate 6-8 hours or overnight)
2. Grate or finely chop and add the clove of garlic
5. Add in the 2 eggs and mix everything together.
7. Cover and marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Coating and Pickup Prep (5 minutes)
1. In a mixing bowl, place 16 oz. of Sweet Potato flour.
Pick Up
4. Cook for 6 minutes at 360°F.
Serve
Let it rest a minute before enjoying, don’t burn your mouth!
This was the first recipe I made in my air fryer, and definitely one of the most successful! I used to live in southern California where boba+chicken shops were everywhere, and after moving to the East coast, I was saddened by the disappearance of Taiwanese popcorn chicken from my life. Now I can make it myself without using a bunch of oil! Thanks so much for this great recipe! I’ve made it twice now and it’s been well-received all around.
Tried it but it came out too salty unfortunately, after marinating for just 4 hours. Would also recommend marinating it with the basil to get more of a basil flavor.
I tried this recipe and the taste is amazing! No more making trips to the nearest store to get my fix!
Looking forward to trying this!! Does it work with chicken breast?