Taiwanese Fried Chicken
Ultra-crunchy, gluten-free, and healthy-ish Taiwanese fried chicken that is airfryer friendly! I know, it’s so predictable—the millennial raving about how great the air fryer is—but it genuinely impresses me every time I make something super crispy without actually frying! Of course, you're more than welcome to deep fry if you wish, for the full fat experience.
To replicate the classic look of Taiwanese fried chicken you'd find in typical night markets, I used chicken breasts, butterflied them into larger, thinner pieces, and then tenderized them with a rolling pin to ensure even thickness. Don't skip the tenderizing step; differences in thickness affect the cooking time, causing thinner parts to cook quicker and potentially dry out while waiting for the thicker parts to cook through.
If you're not aiming for the "as-big-as-your-head" appearance, I highly recommend using chicken thighs—my favorite cut of chicken—for extra juicy and flavorful fried chicken.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 large chicken breasts, butterflied. Substitute with chicken thighs if preferred.
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch for tenderising
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
For the coating:
- 70g tapioca or potato flour
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Seasoning to serve:
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Pair it with
Instructions
- Butterfly the chicken breasts to make it one bigger piece, or several smaller ones if preferred. Put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side.
- With a rolling pin, roll all over the piece of butterflied chicken breast to tenderise and achieve the same thickness.
- Combine all the seasoning together to make a loose paste and coat the chicken breasts. Refrigerate and leave to marinate for at least 15 mins. An hour is best for more flavour.
- Once ready to cook, combine the flours and baking powder together in a large bowl and cover generously each chicken breast. Dust off any excess.
- To cook
- If air-frying:
- Spray your air-fryer basket with cooking oil. Brush each chicken breast on both sides with cooking oil.
- Cook each chicken piece on 205ºC/400ºF, brush over oil and turn over at 5 min intervals. Cooking for a total of 15 mins should be enough. If the chicken pieces are thicker or bigger, they may need another 2–3 mins.
- Once cooked through, sprinkle over the additional seasoning powders, and allow to cook on a wire rack to crisp up
- If oven roasting:
- Brush each piece of chicken with oil, and place over a wire rack to bake in the oven. Bake for around 30 mins at 220ºC depending on size, turning over halfway. Remove when evenly golden brown on the outside.
- If deep-frying:
- Heat your oil to around 180ºC/350ºF and fry the chicken until golden brown. Do not lower the oil heat halfway as this makes things oilier.
- If air-frying:
- To serve, combine seasoning powders together to dust over the cooked chicken straight out of the airfryer. Chop into slices or eat directly when piping hot.
Video demonstration
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