JOYEATSRAMEN – Simple Asian Food Recipes

An easy, super addicting salt and pepper popcorn chicken recipe.

Why you will love this salt and pepper chicken popcorn recipe

It is a versatile Chinese cuisine that can be paired with a bowl of rice.

It also works as a crowd pleaser to be served as a finger food during parties.

Ingredients you need

Chicken marinate

• 300 grams of chicken fillet cubes
• 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine (rice wine)
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 dash of white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon of honey
• 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour (or corn flour)
• 1 tablespoon of oil

Condiments (To be mixed with fried chicken)

• 1 small piece of chilli
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1 green parts of spring onion
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 dash of white pepper

Others

• 3 to 4 pieces of lettuce

Step 1: Marinate chicken

Prepare a bowl with chicken included.

Marinate the chicken with spices and sauces following this sequence:

• Shaoxing wine (rice wine)
• Salt
• White pepper
• Soy sauce
• Honey (can be replaced with sugar or mirin)

Stir well and add two tablespoons of all purpose flour.

You can also use corn flour as a replacement to achieve the same crispy, popcorn chicken effect.

Mix evenly and add a tablespoon of frying oil to bind the flavours together.

Marinate the chicken for a total of 10 minutes.

Step 2: Chop up condiments

While the chicken marinates, prepare condiments.

• Chilli: Slice up a piece of red chilli and remove the seeds for better visual dish appearance. Fun fact: Do you know that the seed itself is not spicy?

• Green onion: Next, slice green onions’ green part only.

• Garlic and shallot: Chop them in small cubes.

Tip: If you don’t have access to shallot, use onion as a replacement. Sauté the onion till it turns slightly brown to achieve a sweet rather than a pungent, spicy aftertaste.

Step 3: Deep fry chicken into popcorn cubes

Start the stove gas on high heat.

Deep fry the chicken cubes for a total of 10 minutes. Flip the chicken on the mark of 5th minute. If you use more oil, the chicken flip is not required.

Step 4: Set aside the chicken

Set aside the popcorn chicken as we want to use the same wok to stir fry condiments.

Step 5: Stir fry condiments

Leave some of the fried chicken oil in the wok.

Throw in garlic, shallot, green onions and chilli. Sauté it for a good 2 minutes.

Step 6: Final stir fry of the popcorn chicken and condiments

Turn off the gas stove heat.

Include the fried popcorn chicken in.

Sprinkle a dash of salt and white pepper each to the wok.

While there’s still remaining heat, do a final quick stir fry to bind every flavour together.

Finally, plate the salt & pepper popcorn chicken and enjoy.

The next step (picture below) is optional.

In true blue Malaysian Chinese restaurant fashion, I added 4 pieces of lettuce to “dress up” the dish and get some greens into the system.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!