With inventive recipes like this northern China-inspired hot chicken, it’s easy to see why.
“I had a theory: if you put chicken through the same three-day process as Nashville hot chicken (brining, buttermilk brining, and then dredging), but swapped the cayenne, paprika, onion and garlic for a deeply aromatic Northern Chinese spice mix, it could be pretty good. While we’re at it, why not use the Korean technique of dredging and frying, too? That could be really good.”
Ingredients
Buttermilk Brine
4 cups (l litre) buttermilk
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Sichuan or regular chilli powder
8 skinless chicken thigh fillets
Beijing spice mix
2 teaspoons white peppercorns
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Sichuan or regular chilli powder
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
Potato-flour dredge
1½ cups (265g) potato flour (potato starch)
½ cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Method
Day 1
To make the buttermilk brine, combine the buttermilk, salt, chicken, bouillon powder, garlic powder and chilli powder in a large bowl or container. Ensure the container is deep enough so that the chicken will be completely submerged. Place the chicken thighs into the buttermilk brine, cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Day 2
To make the Beijing spice mix, heat a small frying pan over low heat and toast the white and Sichuan peppercorns and cumin seeds, moving the pan continuously so that the spices toast evenly. When the spices are lovely and aromatic, add the garlic powder, chilli powder and chilli flakes and toast gently for 30 seconds. Allow the spices to cool, then grind them into a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle.
To make the potato-flour dredge, combine the potato flour, plain flour, black pepper and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Heat at least 6cm (2½ inches) of vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan to 160°C (215°F), using a food thermometer to check the temperature. Life each piece of chicken out of the buttermilk brine and shake off the excess. Thoroughly coat the chicken in the potato-flour dredge, then carefully lower into the oil. Fry the chicken in batches, making sure the pieces don’t touch each other or stick to the bottom of the pan. Fry for 5-6 minutes, until the crust is just set. Transfer to a wire rack to rest while the remaining chicken is fried.
When all of the pieces have been fried once, fry each batch a second time, until the coating is extra crispy, 6-7 minutes. Potato flour does not brown like plain flour does, so don’t attempt to fry until golden. When you tap the coating and it is hard and crisp, the chicken is ready to drain on a wire rack. Reserve ½ cup (125ml) of the hot frying oil.
Place 2 tablespoons of the Beijing spice mix in a heatproof bowl with the reserved frying oil, chilli oil and salt, and mix to combine. Add 2 chicken pieces to the bowl at a time and toss to coat in the spice and oil mix. Return the chicken to the wire rack and sprinkle generously with the remaining Beijing spice mix. Serve hot.
Chinese-ish (published by Hardie Grant, RRP $39.95) is available now from great Victorian booksellers such as Books for Cooks, Hill of Content, and Readings.