This Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken recipe is perfect matched with your favourite stir-fry sauces, or in salt and chilli style dishes.
Crispy chicken is always a good thing, especially when it comes in salt and chilli form, or covered in Chinese curry sauce or satay sauce. This recipe results in deliciously chicken that is still juicy on the inside. Better still, it freezes really well. So, it’s worth making a big batch for the freezer. You’ll never be more than a few minutes away from crispy chicken in satay sauce, salt and chilli chicken and more!
Ingredients For Crispy Chicken
This recipe uses skinless, boneless chicken breast pieces which are seasoned with sea salt, MSG, garlic powder, Chinese 5-spice and rice wine. The seasoned chicken is then coated in egg, potato starch and custard powder and deep fried in hot oil until golden and crispy.
Do Chinese takeaways really use original custard powder?
Yes! It might sound odd, but custard powder is made up simply of maize starch with a little sweet flavouring and just a touch of natural colour, which makes it perfect as a crispy coating for chicken when combined with potato starch.
- Chicken: Skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces.
- Seasoning: Sea Salt, MSG, Garlic Powder, Chinese 5-Spice, Rice Wine
- Coating: Egg, Potato Starch, Custard Powder
- Other Ingredients: Oil for deep frying
How To Make Crispy Chicken
To make Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken, bite sized chicken pieces are seasoned and then coated with egg, potato starch and custard powder before being deep fried in hot oil until golden and crispy.
Step 1: Season Chicken
In a large bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon MSG, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice and 1 teaspoon rice wine. Add 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets (diced) and mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes. Add 1 egg and mix once more. In a separate bowl, combine 5 tablespoons potato starch and 5 tablespoons custard powder.
Step 2: Fry Chicken
Heat oil for deep frying to 180C. Working in batches, transfer some of the seasoned chicken into the bowl of potato starch and custard powder and mix well. Don’t worry if the chicken pieces aren’t completely coated in flour – the sticky coating will crisp up during cooking. Shake off any excess flour and carefully drop the coated chicken pieces into the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain off any excess oil and set aside on a plate.
Step 3: Serve Crispy Chicken
At this stage Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken is ready to use as per your chosen recipe. Alternatively, set it aside to cool completely, then cover and store in a food safe container. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe Tips For Crispy Chicken
Make Ahead: Crispy chicken freezes well and can be fried in 180C hot oil for 2-3 minutes from frozen. Alternatively, heat in an oven or air fryer at 200C for 7-8 minutes until piping hot. It keeps in the freezer for up to three months, so making a bigger batch is a great time saver for future meals.
Shredded Chicken: For shredded chicken dishes, simply cut chicken breast into long, thin strips and lower frying time slightly.
I hope you’ll try this Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon MSG
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice
- 1 teaspoon rice wine
- 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets diced, about 300g total weight
- 1 egg
- 5 tablespoons potato starch
- 5 tablespoons custard powder
- oil for deep frying for deep frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon MSG, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice and 1 teaspoon rice wine. Add 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets (diced) and mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes. Add 1 egg and mix once more. In a separate bowl, combine 5 tablespoons potato starch and 5 tablespoons custard powder.
- Heat oil for deep frying to 180C. Working in batches, transfer some of the seasoned chicken into the bowl of potato starch and custard powder and mix well. Don't worry if the chicken pieces aren't completely coated in flour – the sticky coating will crisp up during cooking. Shake off any excess flour and carefully drop the coated chicken pieces into the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain off any excess oil and set aside on a plate.
- At this stage Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken is ready to use as per your chosen recipe. Alternatively, set it aside to cool completely, cover and store in a food safe container in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Chinese Takeaway Style Crispy Chicken Recipe FAQ
How do Chinese takeaways make crispy chicken?
Chicken breast is deep fried with a coating of egg and potato starch for the classic Chinese takeaway crunch as described in the recipe above. You can use takeaway style crispy chicken in stir-fry dishes, or in salt & chilli dishes.
This recipe uses…
Do you like this Chinese takeaway style crispy chicken recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Chinese Takeaway Secret you can find a host of takeaway style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make sesame prawn toast, salt and chilli chips, lemon chicken, fried rice and more! You can buy The Chinese Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
- McGovern, Kenny (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 240 Pages – 06/09/2022 (Publication Date) – Robinson (Publisher)
