How to make this night market staple, Taiwanese Crispy ‘XXL’ Chicken Cutlet!
Taiwanese XXL Fried Chicken Cutlet is a street food staple that has cemented its place as a snack in Singapore. I love fried chicken, so I’m always on for it!
The Taiwanese chicken cutlet is one of my favourite forms of fried chicken because it’s a lot easier to marinade, since the flattened chicken can absorb the flavours quicker. It also takes lesser time to cook as it is thinner.
How to Make Taiwanese XXL Chicken Cutlet
How to Prep Chicken to XXL in Size!
The street version is extremely large – bigger than the size of your head! This is why the chicken cutlet is also affectionately known as XXL chicken.
To achieve this, butterfly a piece of chicken breast not once, but twice. Carefully fillet the chicken breast from the middle, making sure to not cut it all the way that the chicken meat pieces completely separate. This will create three sections for your chicken.
A quick disclaimer though, I do not usually do this… simply because I don’t want to pull out my huge frying pan for it. I suspect this is the same for most of us at home. Instead, I butterflied it only once, before flattening it with my pestle as much as possible. Use baking paper to layer over the chicken for less of a mess. Other items you can use to knock the chicken flat include the back of a knife, meat mallet, rolling pin or a pan.
Type of Flour for Taiwanese Crispy Chicken Cutlet
In Taiwan, the flour used is Sweet Potato Flour. A combination of flours are typically used, and varies amongst vendors. These flours are usually gluten-free, such as:
- Cornstarch
- Tapioca Starch
- Rice Flour
- Potato Flour
In this recipe, I used a combination of potato flour and rice flour, to achieve that crispy coating. I’ve used a myriad of gluten-free mixtures as well, all to crispy results! If you have a range of flours, make sure to have fun mixing together the flours.
I recommend having a higher ratio of the sweet potato or potato starch. Due to the nature of some of the flours, such as rice flour and cornstarch, you might not get a fully golden brown chicken – this is normal!
Can I use regular flour? Yes you can, but it’s not traditionally used for Taiwanese Fried Chicken. If you are using flour, make sure to consume immediately since plain flour coating has a tendency to turn soggy quick.
Make sure to deep fry the chicken once you coat with the flour, so the chicken does not absorb too much of the flour coating. If you find that there is too much wet patches on your floured chicken, you can give it a second coat of flour. This will also make it extra crispy!
How to Deep Fry The Chicken
I did a shallow fry, rather than deep frying since I used a large frying pan. When at home, I find it more practical to shallow fry anyway, rather than use so much oil just to deep fry a few items. The frying pan I used is a 28-cm large pan, which I’m certain most of us would have at home.
I used vegetable oil, but any neutral tasting oil will do. Let it get hot over medium to medium-high heat, be careful to not let it get too hot or else the coating will burn before the inside is cooked. To test if oil is ready, drop some batter in, and it should sizzle immediately. If you have a thermometer, the oil is ready at 160 degree celcius mark. On the flip side, you do not want to add chicken to the pan when the oil is not hot enough. This will result in soggy coating! I much rather the oil be too hot than not hot enough.
Seasoning Powder
I did not do this for my chicken, but you most certainly can. Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl, and sprinkle over the chicken once it is fried. If you have a spare pepper shaker, place the seasoning powder in the shaker for a more even sprinkle over the chicken.
I like to use ground sichuan peppercorns, but it is optional. I like to the tingly numbing sensation it gives.
For a simple seasoning powder, combine paprika, salt and pepper.
More Recipes Like This:
Easy Taiwanese Crispy Chicken Cutlet
2
servings20
minutes10
minutesIngredients
600g or 2 pieces of chicken breasts, butterflied
Enough oil to fry
- Coating #1: Marinade
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp garlic, minced (or garlic powder)
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp paprika
- Coating #2: Egg Dredge
1 egg, beaten
- Coating #3: Flour Coating
1 Cup Potato Starch, or enough to coat
2 tbsps Rice Flour
1 tsp saltĀ
1 tsp white pepper
- Seasoning Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepperĀ
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
Directions
- Butterfly chicken breasts. Use a sharp knife, and slice half the chicken horizontally. Stop at almost the end of the slice, being careful to not cut all the way that the chicken detaches into two. Flip open the second piece, and you should get one whole bigger piece of chicken flesh.
- Place between baking paper or cling film and pound to flatten with a meat mallet or a pestle.
- Combine the ingredients for the marinade, and massage onto butterflied chicken.
- Prepare two trays or plates for the coating. Beat an egg in one. Add flour of choice to the other, and mix in sugar and salt evenly.
- Coat the marinated chicken in the egg first, before transferring it to the plate with the flour. Coat the chicken with the flour evenly. You can press the chicken into the flour to grab at as much of the flour as possible.
- In a pan large enough to fit the breaded chicken, add oil and place it over medium heat. Test with a bit of batter – it should sizzle immediately, but not become smokey. If smokey, either the oil has become too hot, or the heat is too high.
- Fry chicken evenly on both sides until crispy and cooked through. I cooked my chicken for 8 minutes total, 4 minutes on each side.
- When the chicken is golden and crispy, remove from oil, and let it drain and rest for 5 minutes.
- Option to make the seasoning powder and sprinkle it in, before cutting the chicken into bit-sized pieces. Serve!
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