L. recently made me watch a video about various types of fried chicken which, of course, made me crave it.
This is not your momma's fried chicken but it was none the less delicious - what is not to like about delectable morsels of tender chicken coated in a barely there batter shell with a hint of floral spice? Plus this chicken is shallow fried so feels slightly less unhealthy than the regular stuff.
This recipe serves 2 people, rather than my usual 4.
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 Tbsp Szechuan peppercorns, ground into a powder
2 tsps Chinese five spice
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Mix the flour, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon each of the five spice and the ground peppercorns and 1 tsp of salt together in a shallow bowl.
Add the chicken pieces and toss well to make sure that all sides of the chicken pieces are coated with the flour mixture. Do this lightly, you want the chicken pieces dredged in a thin layer of flour, you don't want to press the flour in to form a thick casing.
Place 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. As soon as the oil is hot and shimmering, add your first batch of chicken pieces. You will want to cook only a few at a time so as to get the best color and crunch by not overcrowding the pan. As you remove the chicken pieces from the dish with the flour to add to the oil, gently shake off any excess flour.
Cook for about 3 minutes and then, using tongs, flip the pieces and cook for 2 more minutes. At that point, I usually just fish out a piece of the chicken and cut it in half to check if it is done. If it is not I then have an idea of how much longer I need, if it is done then I get the cook's first piece, as is my right. For those of you who are more scientific and use a thermometer, internal temperature should apparently be 165. I just know that it smells and looks ready and am rarely off.
When the chicken is cooked, remove it to a paper towel lined plate to remove any excess grease. Cook the next batch as described above.
While the chicken is cooking, mix the remaining peppercorn powder, five spice and 1/2 teaspoon salt together on a plate. Gently roll each chicken piece in this mixture and then serve. A spritz of lemon juice right before eating works well too.