Fried Chicken Cutlet

Ingredients

Chicken

• 4large boneless chicken breasts

Marinade

• 4 tbsplight soy sauce
• 2 tbspShaoxing rice wine
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbspcaster sugar
• 1 tspfive-spice powder
• 1 tspground white pepper
• 1 tspsalt
• 1egg, beaten

Coating

• 250 gcoarse sweet potato starch

For frying

• 1.5 litresfrying oil

Pepper salt

• 2 tbspfine salt
• 1 tbspground white pepper
• 1 tspfive-spice powder
• 1 tspchilli powder, to taste

To finish

• a handful of Thai basil leaves, if wanted

Directions

1. Lay a breast flat on a board and slice it almost in half horizontally, leaving one edge joined. Open it out like a book, so you have one thin sheet of roughly double the area.
2. Cover it with cling film and beat it with a rolling pin or the flat of a cleaver. Work from the middle outwards, and beat it until it is an even five millimetres thick. Do not beat so hard that you tear holes in it, since the coating will not hold there.
3. Mix the soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, sugar, five-spice, white pepper and salt in a wide dish. Beat in the egg last, which helps the starch coating cling to the surface later. Lay the flattened cutlets in the marinade and turn them so both sides are coated. Cover the dish and refrigerate it for at least an hour, and up to overnight.
4. Turn them once during that time so both sides take up the same seasoning. Now the coating, which must be sweet potato starch and not flour. Tip the starch into a wide tray and spread it out in a thick even layer. Lift a cutlet out of the marinade and let the excess drip off for a moment.
5. Lay it in the starch and press down firmly with your palm across the whole surface. Turn it and press again, making sure the edges and any thin spots are covered. Lift it, shake off the loose starch, and set it on a rack. Let the coated cutlets rest for five minutes so the starch hydrates and grips. The surface should look damp and pasty rather than dry and dusty.
6. Heat the oil in a wide deep pan to 160C for the first fry. Lower one cutlet in at a time, since two will drop the temperature too far. Fry it for about four minutes, until it is pale gold and cooked through. Lift it onto a rack and let it rest for at least five minutes.
7. Fry the remaining cutlets the same way, letting the oil come back up between each. Raise the oil to 190C and check it with a thermometer if you have one. Return each cutlet for forty seconds to a minute, until it is deep golden and crisp. Lift it straight onto a rack and never onto a flat plate, which steams the underside. If you are using basil, drop the leaves into the hot oil for five seconds.
8. Stand back when you do this, because wet leaves make the oil spit hard. Mix the salt, white pepper, five-spice and chilli powder together in a small bowl. Dust it generously over both sides of each cutlet while they are still very hot. The heat is what makes the seasoning stick, so do not wait until they cool.
9. Scatter the fried basil leaves over the top if you have made them. Serve it whole in a paper bag, or cut across into strips with scissors. It is at its best within five minutes of frying and does not keep at all.

Technique

• Coarse sweet potato starch is essential, since flour gives a smooth crust rather than a craggy one.
• Fry twice, at 160C then 190C, so the inside cooks and the crust still sets hard.
• Dust the pepper salt on while the cutlet is very hot, or it will not stick.

Substitutions

• Potato starch, which is closer than cornflour if sweet potato starch is unavailable.
• Dry sherry in place of Shaoxing rice wine.

Variations

• Cut into strips and sold as popcorn chicken.
• With extra chilli powder for a spicier dusting.
• With plum powder dusted over, sold in some night markets.

History

The oversized face-sized cutlet was popularised by Hot-Star, founded in Taipei’s Shilin night market in 1992.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fried Chicken Cutlet?

Fried Chicken Cutlet is a street food from Taiwan: oversized flattened fried chicken breast dusted with spiced pepper salt. The oversized face-sized cutlet was popularised by Hot-Star, founded in Taipei’s Shilin night market in 1992.

How long does Fried Chicken Cutlet take to make?

Fried Chicken Cutlet takes 20 min plus 1 hour marinating of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cutlets. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Fried Chicken Cutlet?

Yes, within limits. Potato starch, which is closer than cornflour if sweet potato starch is unavailable. Dry sherry in place of Shaoxing rice wine.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fried Chicken Cutlet?

Cover it with cling film and beat it with a rolling pin or the flat of a cleaver. Work from the middle outwards, and beat it until it is an even five millimetres thick. Do not beat so hard that you tear holes in it, since the coating will not hold there.