Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken with Fried Basil

What you need

• 500 g (1 lb) boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp ground white pepper, divided
• 1 large egg white
• 120 g (1 cup) sweet potato starch, coarse; potato starch also works
• 1 l (1 quart) vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• chili powder, a pinch, optional
• 2 handful Thai basil leaves, patted very dry

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Cut the chicken into 2-3 cm (1 in) pieces.

2. 2

   Mix the chicken with the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger, sugar, half the five-spice and half the white pepper. Marinate for 30 min, or up to overnight in the fridge.

3. 3

   Stir the salt, chili powder and the remaining five-spice and white pepper together in a small bowl to make the seasoning.

4. 4

   Heat the oil in a wok or deep pot, at least 5 cm (2 in) deep, to 165 °C (325 °F).

5. 5

   Stir the egg white into the chicken.

6. 6

   Spread the starch in a shallow bowl. Toss the chicken in it piece by piece, pressing so the coating sticks, then shake off the excess.

7. 7

   Let the coated pieces sit for 5 min, until the starch looks slightly damp.

8. 8

   Fry in batches until pale golden and cooked through with no pink inside, 3-4 min. Drain on a rack.

9. 9

   Raise the oil to 190 °C (375 °F) and fry the chicken again in batches until deep golden and very crisp, about 1 min.

10. 10

    Drop the basil into the hot oil, standing back as it spits, and fry until crisp and translucent, 10-20 seconds. Lift out onto paper towels.

11. 11

    Toss the hot chicken with the seasoning and the basil and serve right away.

Imported from tastingtable.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.