Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken (Yan Su Ji)

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I love that so many Asian cultures have a version of chicken that’s been marinated, coated with starch and deep-fried. So far, on this blog I’ve made a Japanese version, an Indian version, a Thai version, a Hawaiian version (based on the Japanese version) and a Korean version.

Now it’s Taiwan’s turn. Knowing how good other versions of Asian fried chicken are, I had really high hopes for this version. And those hopes were realized: it was delicious.

There are several versions of this recipe over the Internet, so I used the most basic compilation of a few different versions I had found. Note that like the Korean version, this version gets fried twice, but unlike all the others, it uses sweet potato starch, instead of corn or potato starch.

Enjoy!

What you’ll need for the chicken

  • About 1 pound of boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 cup sweet potato starch, divided (available in your local Asian market)
  • 1 bunch of basil leaves, plucked from the stem
  • Neutral oil for deep-frying

What you’ll need for the chicken marinade

  • 1 large egg
  • 2T soy sauce
  • 1t Chinese five-spice powder
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2t sugar
  • 1t white pepper
  • 0.5t baking soda

For the post-cooking chicken seasoning

  • 1t Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1t white pepper
  • 1t sweet curry powder or curry powder
  • Pinch of salt–optional

What to do

Whisk all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, then add the chicken. With a large spoon or your hands, mix all the chicken pieces to ensure each is covered with marinade. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to continue marinating.

Add 0.5 cups of the sweet potato starch to the chicken bowl, again mixing it so each piece is covered.

Prepare your oil for deep-frying by beginning to heat it to 350 degrees F in whatever cooking vessel you’re going to use. That’s for the first fry. The second fry will be at 325 degrees F.

Add the remaining 0.5 cups of starch to the chicken and again stir to ensure each piece is covered with a lot of starch. Maybe use your hands for this, it’s better than using a spoon.

When the oil reaches 350 degrees, begin cooking the chicken in small batches by carefully adding the pieces to the oil—cook for about 3 minutes. The chicken should be light golden-brown. Use a wire skimmer to remove the chicken to a rack set over a platter or a paper-towel-lined plate.

Let the chicken cool while the oil cools to 325 degrees. Keep in mind that this will take longer than you may expect. When it hits 325, add the basil leaves and let them cook for a few minutes, till crispy. Maybe have a slash-screen on hand in case the liquid in the leaves causes the oil to bubble and splash. Remove the basil leaves to a paper-towel-lined plate when they’re crispy.

Now cook the chicken a second time, the same way you cooked it the first time, and for the same amount of time. When all the chicken is cooked, drained and on a platter, sprinkle on the cooked basil leaves. Then, mix the post-cooking spices together and evenly sprinkle over the chicken.

Serve hot or warm.

No-Bake Cheesecake

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This is a good one! My wife was talking about getting some cheesecake the other day, so I thought I’d just make one. This recipe, based on one from Serious Eats, is super-easy and fairly quick to make.

I strongly recommend using the Biscoff cookies for the crust, because how could any pie crust be better than one made form Biscoff cookies and butter?

Make this and share it with friends. They’ll love it!

Here’s the whole cheesecake, minus the fruit.

What you’ll need for the crust

  • 8.75-oz. (250g) package of graham crackers or Biscoff cookies (Biscoff will be better)
  • 2.5 oz. (70g or 5T) unsalted butter, melted
  • Pinch of kosher salt, to taste

What you’ll need for the filling

  • 16 oz. (two 8-oz. packages) unflavored full-fat cream cheese. Use a high-quality brand.
  • 5.25 oz. (about 0.75 cups or 150g) sugar
  • 4.5t fresh lemon juice
  • 0.25t vanilla extract
  • 0.125t (1/8t) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much, by volume
  • 12 oz. heavy cream (about 1.5 cups)

What you’ll need for serving (optional)

  • 12 ounces of fresh berries, washed and dried


What to do for the crust

Bash the cookies or graham crackers in sealable bag until they’re reduced to crumbs. I suppose you could use a food processor for this, too. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl, then stir in a pinch of salt to taste. Sprinkle into a 9-inch tart pan or pie plate, and spread into an even layer. When it’s fairly even, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan with a flat-bottomed vessel, such as a drinking glass or measuring cup. Keep pressing until the crumbs are compressed in even layer across the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate until needed.

What to do for the cheesecake filling

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix at low speed to form a paste, then increase the speed to medium until the cheese mixture is soft and smooth.

Scrape bowl and beater with a flexible spatula, and switch to the whisk attachment. Pour in the cream and mix at a low speed to combine, then increase to high speed and whip the mixture until it can hold stiff peaks—3 to 5 minutes.

Here’s the best part: Scrape the whipped filling into the prepared crust and spread into an even layer, using the back of a spoon or a spatula to sculpt the filling into whatever design works best for you.

Carefully cover with plastic and refrigerate until the filling is firm and cold—maybe about 6 hours, depending on your fridge temp.

Top slices with optional fruit before serving.

Mini Baked Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Bacon

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Here’s a good, if not slightly pedestrian, appetizer. They’re a nice alternative to stuffed potatoes skins. I recommend using Yukon Gold yellow potatoes, due to their thin skin and good flavor.

Of course, you could use any type of cheese for these, and just skip the bacon if you’re vegetarian.

They’re going to look a little like these xenomorph eggs from the Alien movies, but instead of aliens coming out, it’s gonna be bacon.


What you’ll need

  • 15 – 25 small potatoes, washed and dried
  • 2 – 3T olive or whatever oil you have
  • Enough coarse kosher salt in which to roll the potatoes
  • 0.5 cups sour cream
  • About 1 oz crumbled blue cheese
  • 2 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked to crisp, then coarsely chopped

What to do

Begin heating your oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut a little flat spot on the natural bottom of each potato so they stay in place when cooking. Add the oil to a small bowl and roll the potatoes around in it so they’re coated.

Now add the salt to a saucer-sized plate and roll the oiled potatoes in it. Alternatively, you could just add the potatoes to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle the salt over them. When the potatoes are coated, add them to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.

When the oven reaches 375 degrees, bake the potatoes for about 45 minutes, until tender. Meanwhile, mix the sour cream and blue cheese in a small bowl and set aside.

When the potatoes are cooked, let them cool for a few minutes so you can handle them, then cut a cross into the top of each potato. Press inward with your fingers to open the potatoes. They should look kind of like the eggs from the Alien movies.

Using a small spoon, add a dollop of the sour cream/blue cheese mixture to the top of each potato, then add a couple of pieces of bacon.

Serve warm or at room temperature.