Crispy Fried Chicken
A traditional Nanjing dish: deboned braised chicken is coated in batter and deep-fried until crisp and fragrant, with the flavor penetrating to the meat.
Ingredients
Braised chicken (about 1000 g, deboned and cut into pieces)
1 (about 1000 g)
Eggs (use 1 whole egg and 2 yolks for batter)
3
MSG
1 g
Flour
50 g
Sesame oil
15 g
Spicy soy sauce (served on the side)
50 g
Rendered pork fat (actual consumption)
750 g
Ketchup (originally mistyped as '番前酱', served on the side)
25 g
Instructions
1
Cutting and deboning
Place the braised chicken on a chopping board. Cut through the neck bone with a cleaver to detach the head. Make a cut on each side of the rear end, then make a straight cut from the tail along the spine up to the neck. With the breast facing up, cut along both sides of the belly all the way to the back opening. Use your hands to pry the two legs outward, then remove the leg bones and the breast meat along with the wing bones to form 4 pieces (keeping the wing tips and the head). Detach the inner meat from the carcass bone, place it together with the chicken tenderloin on a plate, and set the carcass bones and other scraps aside for other uses.
2
Preparing the egg batter
Crack the eggs into a bowl. Set aside 2 of the egg whites for other uses, and use 1 whole egg together with 2 yolks. Add the flour, MSG, and sesame oil, and stir to form an egg-flour batter. Set aside until needed.
3
Deep-frying to set the shape
Place a wok over the fire and add the rendered pork fat. Heat until it reaches about 60 percent hot. Dip the breast, leg, and tenderloin pieces fully in the batter and lower them into the wok. Fry until they turn a pale yellow, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. Add the chicken head, tail, and wings to the oil and briefly fry, then remove. When the oil reaches 80 percent hot, return the chicken pieces to the wok for a second fry. Fry until golden yellow, remove from heat, lift out with a slotted spoon, and place onto a plate.
4
Plating and shaping
Transfer the chicken back to the chopping board and cut into long strips, then arrange them on a serving plate. Split the chicken head in half and arrange it together with the wings and tail to recreate the shape of a whole chicken. Place the ketchup at the edge of the plate. Pour the spicy soy sauce into a small dish and serve it alongside.
