Hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we're adding to our Chinese American food hack series with a recipe for a Taiwanese popcorn chicken based on a version that you can find at a cafe and snack stop called Quickly. Quickly is well known for their pearl milk tea or "boba nai cha," as well as their tasty bite sized popcorn chicken snacks.

I also thought I'd use this as an opportunity to experiment with a buttermilk fried chicken approach in my own "Woo Can Cook" version, which yielded some of the tastiest fried chicken that I have literally ever eaten. Hope you try it.

 

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 tbsp (about 1 inch) ginger

  • 3 medium chicken thighs

  • 4-6 Thai chiles

  • 10-12 Thai basil leaves

  • 1 cup AP flour

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 1 tbsp chili powder

  • 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice

  • pinch kosher salt

  • 1 cup buttermilk

INGREDIENTS (finish)

  • 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

  • pinch kosher salt

PREP

  • CRUSH AND MINCE the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • DICE the chicken into 1 inch pieces, set aside

  • SLICE the Thai chiles, set aside

  • ADD all marinade ingredients to the chicken and let marinate for 30 minutes or up to one hour

  • COMBINE all finish ingredients into a mortar and pestle, and crush until a fine seasoning forms

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT 12 oz of vegetable oil in a wok to 375F, and add the chicken to the fryer 10-15 pieces at a time

  • FRY for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and 165F internally

  • SEASON with the finishing seasoning immediately after removing

  • REMOVE all but 2 tbsp of oil from the wok, reheat as hot as possible, and long yao

  • ADD garlic and ginger to the wok and bloom until fragrant (about 10-15 seconds)

  • ADD Thai chile and Thai basil to the wok, and saute for 1-2 minutes, then remove and add to the finished chicken and toss to combine

 

tagged with woo can cook, quickly, popcorn chicken, taiwanese chicken, quickly boba, boba milk tea, boba nai cha, buttermilk