American Southern-Style Fried Chicken Bites

 炸鸡

This fried chicken recipe is different from my other fried chicken recipes (here, here, here, here and here) as it soaks the chicken in buttermilk brine which helps to tenderise the chicken, and the chicken is cooked sous vide before deep frying. Follow this recipe to get fried chicken that is quite similar to KFC fried chicken or Shake Shack chicken bites. 

Ingredients:

500g chicken breast 

Buttermilk brine/marinade: 180ml/180g buttermilk (or 180ml/180g milk with 3/4 tsp/4.5g white vinegar), 1.5 tsp salt, 1 egg

Herb-seasoned flour: 180g plain flour, 60g corn flour, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ginger powder, 1/4 tsp dried herbs (thyme and/or oregana), 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp celery salt

2 tbsp plain flour (plus more, if needed)

Method:

1. Prepare buttermilk brine by mixing buttermilk with salt and egg. If you do not have buttermilk, pour milk in a large bowl, add white vinegar to it, give a quick stir and let it sit for 10 minutes until it starts to coagulate/curdle a little. After that, mix in salt and egg. 

2. Use a sharp tip of the knife to poke the chicken breasts lightly to help the meat absorb the marinade, then cut into bite size.

3. Submerge the chicken into the buttermilk brine (in a vacuum bag) for at least 3 hour or overnight (in fridge - remove chicken from fridge one hour before cooking).

4. On day of cooking, sous vide the chicken breasts first. Heat a pot of water to 70 degree celcius. Submerge the vacuum bag with chicken pieces into the water for 45 minutes. After 45minutes, remove the chicken pieces from the vacuum bag and put them in a sieve for the excess marinade to drip off (into a bowl)

5. When ready to fry the chicken, prepare the herb-seasoned flour. Add 4 to 5 tablespoon of marinade into the herb-seasoned flour and use a whisk to mix until you get lots of lumpy flour bits. These lumpy flour bits will turn into crunchy crust after frying.

6. Lightly coat each piece of chicken with plain flour and shake off excess flour. Then dip the chicken into the marinade and dredge the chicken through the herb-seasoned flour. Squeeze the chicken piece using your palm so that the flour will adhere to the chicken. Repeat for remaining chicken pieces. Rest the breaded chicken pieces on a tray for 10 to 15 minutes (to allow the flour to adhere properly to the chicken). 

7. Fry the chicken pieces in batches until golden brown, flipping it half way through frying. Transfer the chicken to wire rack to drain excess oil. Repeat until all chicken pieces have been fried. 

Enjoy the chicken bites whilst warm and crispy!

Homemade French Fries

薯条

Making french fries at home is easier than you think. What's more, you can cut the fries to the preferred thickness. Here's my adaptation of the recipes shared in Shack Shake's cookbook and Recipetineats. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes (buy yellow-fleshed potatoes. I bought Holland potatoes - grown in China)

White vinegar (1 tablespoon per 1 kg of potatoes)

Method:

1. Peel potatoes and submerge in water to keep them from turning brown while you cut the rest of the potatoes.

2. Use a serrated knife to cut the potato lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices, then cut each slice lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick fries. Continue to submerge the fries in water until all the potatoes have been sliced. Note: The serrated knife creates a rougher surface for crispier fries.

3. Rinse the fries under running tap water to remove excess sugars from the surface of the potatoes. Transfer to a pot filled with water above the fries, and stir in the white vinegar*. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer the fries until they are just tender (test with a toothpick). DO NOT OVER SIMMER THE POTATOES as they will fall apart.

*The white vinegar will prevent the potatoes from disintegrating during simmering.

4. Transfer the boiled fries to a baking tray lined with tea towel. Let the fries steam dry on their own.

5. Heat up a wok with sufficient oil to deep fry the fries. Fry in small batches until the fries are the edges turned pale gold. Remove from wok and drain excess oil on a wire rack.

6. Spread the fries on a baking tray lined with kitchen towel to cool down. Once cooled, bag the fries and freeze them for frying on another day. Freezing help to wick remaining moisture in the cooked fries. 

7. When you want to eat the fries, heat up the wok with sufficient oil to deep fry the fries. Fry in small batches until the fries are deep golden brown and crispy. Remove from wok and drain excess oil on a wire rack.

7. You can also bake the fries straight out from the freezer. Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius, put the fries in a single layer in a baking tray and bake for around 20 minutes. 

8. Sprinkle the fries with salt. Toss and serve!

Fried Fermented Beancurd Pork Belly

南乳炸猪肉

This dish goes by a few names - nam yue (red fermented beancurd) pork, Hakka Zhar Yoke, Hakka Char Yoke. It originates from Hakka cuisine. The distinctive taste of fermented red beancurd gives the pork belly a very nice fragrance. Instead of slicing the pork belly into small pieces and frying them, I prefer to fry the pork belly slab and then slice them. I referred to ieatishootipost recipe but made slight changes.

Ingredients (serves 4 pax)

500g pork belly (skin removed and cut into 1.5cm thick slabs)

Marinade:

40g nam yue 

1/2 tsp five-spice powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon minced/grated garlic

1/2 egg

1 tablespoon Chinese wine

Batter

2 tablespoon plain flour

1 tablespoon rice flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

or

4 tablespoon corn flour

Method

1. Prepare the marinade and add to pork belly. Marinade for at least 3 hours.

2. Prepare the batter. Take each slab of pork belly and coat it with the flour batter. Set aside the pork belly slabs for 30minutes for the flour to absorb the marinade.

3. Heat up wok with sufficient oil. Fry the pork belly slabs until light golden in colour. Then turn up the heat and fry a second time for less than a minute to crisp up the pork belly before slicing.

Fried Chicken Wing Chinese Style

炸鸡翅膀

Ingredients:

1kg chicken wings (mid joints also can, refer to bottom of this post)

marinade:

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

batter: 

80g tapioca flour

26g rice flour

10g plain flour

3/4 tsp salt

110ml water

Method:

1. Wash and clean the chicken wings, then dab dry with kitchen towels. Pierce the chicken wings with a sharp knife.

2. Marinade the chicken wings with salt, fish sauce and sesame oil. Ensure the wings are well coated with the marinade. Set aside for at least half hour (the longer you marinade, the better the taste) and turn the chicken wings over at least once, just to make sure that the wings are well marinated.

3. Heat up cooking oil in wok under medium-low heat.

4.Mix the tapioca flour, rice flour, plain flour and salt, then stir in water slowly with a whisk. Don't add all the water at one go. Stop adding when the batter is smooth and drips when the whisk is lifted from the batter. Don't overmix the batter. Add the batter to the marinated chicken wings and mix in thoroughly.

5. When the oil temperature has reached approximately 160 deg celcius, put in the chicken wings and fry until golden colour. Transfer the fried chicken wings to a wire rack to drain excess oil. Notes:

a. Fry the chicken wings in small batches.

b. Turn down the heat if the oil starts to smoke.

c. Single frying is sufficient as the chicken wing stays crispy for more than 1 hour (even 2). For super crispy wings, you can fry the wings again over high heat for about 30 seconds. 

6. Serve the fried chicken wings hot.

Note: Chicken wing mid-joints are easier/faster to cook. Just cut each mid-joint into two pieces and follow steps above.

Cripiest Fried Chicken

 香脆炸鸡

The crispiest fried chicken I've ever cooked! Stays crispy for more than half hour after frying. Recipe below adapted from masa's cooking abc.

Ingredients:

500g chicken fillet or chicken thigh

Marinade: Half tsp mirin, half tsp sake, half tsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves minced garlic), 1 tsp minced ginger and 1 small egg

9 tablespoon potato flour

3 tablespoon water

Method:

1. Cut the chicken to bite size and marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

2. Add the water gradually into the potato flour and use chopsticks to mix as you add the water. The flour will clump together and form small lumps. This is what we want.

3. Heat wok with cooking oil, coat each piece of chicken with the flour mixture (step 2) and deep fry until light brown. Once all pieces of fillet has been fried, turn up the heat and deep fry for a few seconds until golden brown. Double frying method will result in crispy chicken.

Enjoy! 

Yam Ring

 芋头圈 / 佛钵

Yam ring or yam basket or fatt put (in cantonese) is usually served during festive occasions.  It is served with a mixture of stir-fried vegetables and chicken or seafood (prawns/ scallops).

Ingredients: 

300g taro, steamed

60g wheat flour

30g pork lard

90ml hot boiling water 

1/2 tsp baking powder

Seasoning: 1/2 tsp of salt, 

1/8 tsp ground white pepper, 1/8 tsp five spice powder

Method: 

1. Peel and cut the yam into small pieces. Steam for 10mins until it turns soft, mashed through sieve while hot. Mix in the seasoning and set aside.

2. Slowly add the hot boiling water to the wheat flour and mix continously using a pair of chopsticks. You will get a thick and sticky white paste/dough. Add this, pork lard and baking powder into the taro (step 1) and mix until well combined. Knead to form a smooth dough, wrap it in plastic/cling wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 30minutes until the dough is firmer (to facilitate shaping).

3. Remove from fridge and unwrap the yam dough. Sprinkle some wheat flour on the benchtop and on the yam dough. Shape the yam ring by poking the centre of the dough with your thumb and pressing gently with fingers to form a wide and shallow ring. Note: shallow rings will require lesser oil to fry! Place the yam ring on a strainer with holes.

4. Heat up cooking oil in wok. When the oil temperature has reached approximately 160 degree celcius, lower the yam ring (with strainer) into the hot oil. Use a laddle to spoon the oil over the yam ring if necessary. Deep fry until the yam ring turns golden brown.

5. Cook the filling with vegetables and meat of your choice, and stuff it into the yam ring. 

Kueh Pie Tee

 

Little crispy cups stuffed to the brim with tasty turnip fillings are my family's favourite and served in almost all of our family gatherings. 

Ingredients (makes about 100 shell)

For Kueh Pie Tee Shell

60g plain flour

180g rice flour

30g corn flour

Half teaspoon salt

1 egg (60g nett) - lightly beaten

400ml water

For Kueh Pie Tee Filling

1 turnip (bang kwang / jicama)

1 carrot

1 piece dried squid (rehydrated and cut into thin strips)

handful dried shrimps (rehydrated and chopped into small pieces)

3 strips of smoked bacon (cut into small pieces)

8 shallots (finely chopped) 

Seasoning: 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon salt

Method

Kueh Pie Tee Shell

Sieve the 3 flours together. Mix salt into the flour. Make a well in the centre of flour and add beaten egg. Use a small whisk to mix in 1 direction. Add water slowly and whisk until you get a smooth batter. Strain the batter to remove lumps. Set aside the batter to rest for 1 hour. 

After an hour, stir the batter and pour some into a small cup (deep enough to submerge the special mold for the kueh pie tee shell). Note to self: use NYPS souvenir cup

Heat up oil in pot over low heat and fully submerge the mold (to heat it up). Lift the mold from oil, shake off excess oil and dip the mold vertically into the batter until almost to the top (95%). Dip the mold into the hot oil until it is almost submerged. When the shell turns light brown, either jiggle the mold up and down to loosen the shell from the mold or use a chopstick to gently separate the shell from the mold. Use chopstick to turn the shell around in the oil so that it is evenly cooked. When the shell is golden in colour, transfer it to a wire rack to cool. Repeat process until the batter is used up. Store the shells in an air tight container to retain crispiness. The shells keep well for a week.

Kueh Pie Tee Filling

Cut turnip and carrot into thin strips.

Fry bacon until crispy and set aside. Using the fat released from frying bavon, fry shallots until golden brown and set aside. Fry dried shrimps until fragrant and set aside. Fry dried squid until fragrant and set aside. These will serve as toppings.

Using oil left from frying shallots/shrimps/squid, stir fry carrot and turnip until they are soft. Add water (around 200ml, from soaking shrimps and squid) and seasoning. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the toppings. 

Assemble Kueh Pie Tee

To serve, stuff the filling into each shell. 

Crispy Bacon Croquette

脆皮马铃薯饼

Enjoy these delicious fried potato patties by themselves or as a side dish. 

Ingredients

1 kg Indonesian Brastagi potatoes (870g after mashing)

1/2 egg (optional)

6 to 8 slices of smoked bacon, cut into 1 m strips. (Can replace with other filling e.g. minced beef/pork/chicken)

1 tsp salt

Dashes of black pepper

1 tsp dried herbs

50g plain flour 

Method:

1. Peel and cut potatoes into small cubes. 

2. Boil* the potatoes in salted water until tender (can poke through with a chopstick), around 10 to 15minutes. Drain water and return the pot of potatoes to the stove. On low heat, shake the pot to evaporate excess moisture from the potatoes. Turn off heat and mash the potatoes while they are hot. Leave some small chunks of potatoes for texture (personal preference). If the mashed potatoes are wet (i.e. sticks to your hand), add plain flour one tablespoon at a time.

3. While boiling potatoes, pan fry the smoked bacon strips until crispy and set aside.

4. Add seasoning and smoked bacon and mix well. Shape the patty and rest in fridge for 30 minutes (to prevent the croquettes from exploding while deep frying). Remove patty from fridge 30 minutes before frying.

5. Prepare beaten egg, plain flour and panko. Deep fry in batches. Dredge each patty in each batch through plain flour, followed by egg and panko. Deep fry immediately until light golden brown in colour.  Transfer to wire rack or kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Use a mesh strainer to remove panko bits floating around in the oil before frying the next batch. This will keep the oil clean and produce nice and golden patties.

6. Serve immediately.

* you can also pre cook the potatoes by deep frying them. To do this, slice the potatoes in step 1. Then deep fry them until soft.