Salt & Crispy Chicken (Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken)
Yan su ji — Taiwanese salt & crispy chicken: juicy nuggets in a craggy, ultra-crunchy sweet-potato-starch crust, tossed with pepper-salt and fried basil. The night-market icon, air-fryer friendly.
Prep Time20m
Cook Time15m
Yield4 servings
CuisineTaiwanese
Spicy:
🌶️
Ingredients
- Chicken thigh 500g, cut in bite-size pieces
- Light soy sauce 2 tbsp
- Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp
- Garlic 3 cloves, grated
- Ginger 1 tsp, grated
- Five-spice powder ½ tsp
- Sugar ½ tsp
- Egg 1
- Coarse sweet potato starch 1 cup (key for the craggy crust)
- Neutral oil for deep frying
- Thai basil a handful (optional, fried)
- Pepper-salt: salt 1 tsp + white pepper ½ tsp + five-spice ¼ tsp
Steps
- Marinate chicken with soy sauce, wine, garlic, ginger, five-spice and sugar 20 min; beat in the egg.
- Coat each piece in coarse sweet potato starch, pressing to adhere; rest 5 min so the coating hydrates and turns craggy.
- Heat oil to 160°C; fry chicken in batches 4–5 min until cooked; remove.
- Raise oil to 190°C; return chicken for 1–2 min until deep golden and ultra-crisp. Fry the basil 10 sec (it will splatter); drain.
- Toss hot chicken with pepper-salt and the fried basil. Serve immediately.
Tips
Coarse sweet potato starch (not cornstarch) is what creates the signature craggy, shattery crust. Let the coated chicken rest so the starch hydrates — that’s the flaky texture. Double-fry for lasting crunch. Air-fryer: 200°C 12–15 min, sprayed with oil.
