Crispy Fried Chicken
A signature Cantonese chicken dish with crispy skin and tender meat, essential at birthday banquets and wedding celebrations.
Ingredients
chicken (cleaned)
1
seasoning mix (salt, ginger juice, for rubbing inside the cavity)
to taste
poaching spices (Sichuan peppercorn, star anise, dried tangerine peel, cinnamon, ginger, black cardamom, in a cloth bag)
to taste
water
10 cup
salt (for the poaching water)
to taste
Shaoxing wine (for the poaching water)
to taste
sweet and sour glaze (sugar, white vinegar, Zhejiang vinegar, cornstarch, water chestnut starch, baijiu, for brushing onto the chicken)
to taste
seasoning (salt, Sichuan peppercorn five-spice powder, for rubbing inside the cavity)
to taste
oil (heated, for deep-frying the chicken)
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Rinse the chicken and rub the seasoning mix evenly inside the cavity.
2
Step 2
Place the poaching spices in a cloth bag, add 10 cups of water and simmer gently for 20 minutes, then remove the bag. Add the salt, Shaoxing wine, and the chicken, and simmer gently until the skin puffs up, then remove.
3
Step 3
Mix the sweet and sour glaze and melt it over a double boiler, then brush it over the chicken. Rub the seasoning inside the cavity, then hang the chicken in a breezy spot. When the skin is slightly dry, brush on more glaze and repeat 4 to 5 times, then air-dry the chicken completely.
4
Step 4
Heat plenty of oil and deep-fry the chicken until golden brown. The chicken is done when the thigh meat tightens; chop into pieces, arrange on a plate, and serve.
