Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

You are here: Home / Appetizers & cheese / Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken (Yan Su Ji)

Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken (Yan Su Ji)

February 3, 2023 By Karl Leave a Comment

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.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Appetizers & cheese, Chicken, Gluten Free, Low carb/Low GI/Low GL

« No-Bake Cheesecake
Bacon Jam! Yeah! »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Feral Cooks was developed by Karl and Philip, two expats who were introduced to each other by their wives while living in Japan.  Learn more →

Recent Posts

  • Cheese and Sausage Appetizers
  • Nikuman (Japanese meat buns)
  • Hong Kong-Style Crispy Rice
  • Gooey Butter Cake
  • Shrimp with Peanuts, Black Pepper and Cilantro

Categories

  • Appetizers & cheese (139)
  • Baked goods (70)
  • Beef (39)
  • Beverages (9)
  • Chicken (65)
  • Cooking tools (14)
  • Dessert (67)
  • Eggs (24)
  • Gluten Free (210)
  • Indian (29)
  • Indonesian (24)
  • Ingredients (24)
  • Italian (37)
  • Japanese (43)
  • Lamb (4)
  • Low carb/Low GI/Low GL (190)
  • Mexican (7)
  • Misc. (30)
  • Pasta (30)
  • Pizza (18)
  • Pork (100)
  • Pressure cooker (6)
  • Restaurants & Delis (2)
  • Seafood (23)
  • Soup (13)
  • Thai (42)
  • Tofu (11)
  • Uncategorized (9)
  • Vegan (90)
  • Vegetarian (211)
  • Vietnamese (14)

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016

© 2023 - Feral Cooks - All Rights Reserved