Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 台式盐酥鷄

This recipe tutorial from 田園時光Garden Time homemade cuisine is very good and detailed. It is in mandarin but the recipe also has English version. The only adjustment I made was water to make it the right consistency. The recipe portion doesn’t look that much, so I tripled the portion since my family loves Taiwanese popcorn chicken. Well, it turned out that I made enough for a party!

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 台式盐酥鷄 (makes a party tray)

Ingredients:

3 packs of Costco boneless skinless chicken thigh (about 4 thighs in each pack)

Marinade:
1 bulk of garlic– grated
1 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
3/4 tsp salt
3 tsps soy sauce

Batter:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp baking powder– optional
100-120 ml water

Sweet potato starch for coating– see note below

Thai basil leaves for garnish– wash and dry completely, see note below

Seasoning mix for sprinkle:
1/2 tsp five spice powder
2 tsps ground white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Chili powder– optional, adjust to taste

Method:

1. Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into bite size pieces, about 1 1/2 inch in size. Add marinade ingredients and massage thoroughly. Marinate the meat for 30 minutes. If you like stronger garlic flavor, add in garlic and let it marinate for longer time before adding the remaining ingredients.
2. Mix all batter ingredients together. The batter should neither too thick nor too thin. It should be slowly dripping down. Adjust water and flour if necessary. Pour batter to the meat and coat all pieces well.
3. Add some sweet potato starch in a deep dish plate. Drop chicken pieces and coat well all over, press lightly if needed. Set aside for a while to let the meat absorb sweet potato starch (so that the starch will adhere to the meat rather than falling in the oil).
4. Fill a medium saucepan with cooking oil to 2 inches deep. Heat up to medium high. Dip a wooden chopstick in the oil, if fine bubbles comes out rapidly from the bottom of the chopstick then the oil is ready. Gently drop chicken pieces into the oil to form one single layer, take care not to overcrowd the pot.
5. Once the meat pieces turn slightly pale golden, loose up all pieces and turn the meat pieces. Fry them to pale golden brown. Repeat with the rest of the meat.
6. Once the last batch of meat is fried, bring up the heat of the oil to medium high again. Work in batches, carefully drop meat pieces to fry for the second time until golden (this is to make fried goods crunchier, but the oil must be hot enough or else the fried goods absorb the oil and thus become greasy). Dish out with a strainer scoop then sprinkle seasoning mix all over when they are still hot. Take care not to overcrowd the pot during second frying.
7. When the second frying is done, quickly drop Thai basil leaves to the oil and fry them for a few seconds then scoop up to garnish the chicken (the leaves will look wilted first then becomes oil soaked and crisp up). Because there’s water naturally locked inside the leaves even when they are dry, frying them will always splash some oil. So be extra careful at this step. If needed, use a splash screen cover, cover up the surrounding features of the stove to minimize cleaning.
8. Enjoy! Even though the popcorn chicken is still crunchy when it is cooled completely, but it is best eaten while it’s still hot.

Regina’s Note:

• Please note this recipe yields a large portion (party tray). Cut down the portion if necessary.

• Marinating: If you prefer stronger garlic flavor, massage in grated garlic and let it marinate for longer time but hold on to the rest of marinade ingredients. The reason is that marinating too long will take away the natural flavor of chicken..

• Sweet potato starch: the starch for coating fried goods has a grainy feel to it, not the one that is too fine like powder.

• Thai basil leaves: To minimize oil splashing while frying them later, I washed and patted dry basil leaves with paper towels, then let them air dry completely before starting all the preparation. Still, they will splash some oil due to the water naturally locked inside the leaves even when they are completely dry.
• During first frying, almost no oil splash. For second frying a little more oil splash just like sauté foods. When it comes to frying basil leaves, oil splash way more and further away. So you’ll want to guard your stove area/ backsplash, countertop beforehand to minimize cleaning. As best as I can, I cover all surrounding areas with large baking pans, foil, paper towel etc…

• According to 田園時光 Garden Time homemade cuisine , the batter keeps popcorn chicken remain crunchy for extended period of time, and it does! A good tip to keep in mind for other fried goods.

• Whenever I fry stuff, I like to use a small or medium saucepan instead of frying pan or skillet. The reason being saucepan has narrower base which mean less oil is used and yet deep enough for deep frying. Also saucepan has higher sides to help minimize oil splashing to certain level. The short side of a saucepan is longer time since you’ll have to fry the foods in more batches. It doesn’t have to be a fancy saucepan, but make sure it’s heavy duty. I have an old saucepan just for frying and occasionally I use it for other purpose.

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Malaysian Coconut Candy

When I was growing up, there are two types of coconut candy in Malaysia– one is a hard candy, usually in brown color; the other is slightly chewier and usually wrapped in colorful cellophane wrapping paper. My favorite is the latter, which is made with grated coconut. Take one bite and fragrance of coconut just spreads out in your mouth with every chew… Sadly, these old time candies are hard to find in Malaysia nowadays. When I saw the recipes on the internet I was quite excited, and even better it’s not that hard to make! I also learned from Jessys Cooking that the recipe was originally from the can of Carnation Brand condensed milk back in 1960s!

If you love coconut, you’ll love this candy!

Malaysian Coconut Candy (adapted from Jessys Cooking, makes 1 rectangle glass pan, about 80 bite size pieces)

Ingredients:

5 cups (400 grams) finely grated desiccated coconut– see note below
3 tbsps unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (14 oz) condensed milk
8 tbsps whipping cream– see note below
1 tsp pandan extract

Method:

1. Greased the glass pan with cooking spray. Toast desiccated coconut in a clean dry wok at low heat until lightly brown and fragrant. Stir constantly to prevent the bottom from burning. Transfer out.
2. While on low heat setting, melt butter then add in all ingredients. Stir to combine well. Since there is high sugar content here it’s very important to keep the heat at low setting and stir constantly. Once it’s all combined stir for a few more minutes. The mixture should resemble thick cookie dough.
3. Transfer the mixture to the grease glass pan. Use a silicone spatula to spread to an even layer, then use a cake presser to press the surface. This will pack down the candy. Cut into bite size then chill in the fridge at least 4 hours. Run the knife at the cut line again then separate the pieces. Store in air tight container, and preferably in the fridge for extended shelf life.

Regina’s Note:

• Desiccated coconut: Desiccated coconut is preferred as it is dry already and thus no worries about moisture seeping into the candy and potentially mold problem. Always toast coconut before hand as the candy will be much more fragrant. I used all finely grated coconut here, but I think combination of finely grated and grated coconut will be better for the texture.

• Whipping cream: According to Jessys Cooking whipping cream is optional, it’ll make the candy a bit more moist in the several days after the candy is made. If you use whipping cream, cook the mixture a bit longer. If you choose to opt out, the candy will be drier.

• This candy is quite sweet so small bite size goes a long way.
• Next time I’ll use Gula Melaka (Malaysian coconut sugar– it’s not as sweet as regular sugar) instead of regular sugar, which will enhance the coconut flavor and tone down the sweetness.

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Chinese Almond Candy 杏仁酥糖

This traditional Chinese candy is pretty easy to make. Unlike the peanut candy or peanut brittles, which takes much longer as you have to cook the peanuts during the process, this recipe is much much quicker since the almonds are toasted before use. I like the chewiness of these almond squares, and added coconut makes the flavor more interesting. If you use a smaller tray, then each candy piece is thicker and thus chewier.

Chinese Almond Candy 杏仁酥糖 (makes 1 medium tray, about 70 bite size squares)

Ingredients:
2 lbs sliced almonds
4 tbsps sesame seeds
4 tbsps finely grated desiccated coconut

Syrup:
4 tbsps maltose 麥芽糖
6 tbsps brown sugar
3 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps water
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Lined a medium tray with parchment paper. Place almond slices in large baking pan in a even layer, toast in 300F oven until golden brown. Check and stir every 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oven.
2. While almond is toasting in the oven, toast sesame seeds in a dry clean frying pan at medium low heat, stirring constantly until lightly brown. Remove from heat. Do the same for desiccated grated coconut. Keep almonds, sesame seeds and grated coconut in the oven at the lowest temperature to keep warm.
3. Combine all syrup ingredients in a wok. Cook at medium heat. Do not stir until the all sugars dissolve. Cook for a few minutes until the bubbles become small. To check if it’s done, drop a drop of syrup into a bowl of room temperature water– if it shapes up and soft to the touch then it’s ready. Turn the heat to lowest setting, add in almond, sesame seeds and grated coconut. Gently toss (to minimize breakage to almond slices) with two spatulas until all coated well with syrup.
4. Quickly transfer the almond mixture onto the lined tray (with a kitchen towel at the bottom of the tray– see note below). The mixture should be just warm to touch so you can use your hand to spread out evenly and press lightly (which I found is much faster than using spatulas). Then use a rolling pin to roll over the surface to ensure all areas are pressed evenly.
5. While the candy slab is still a little warm, quickly cut into desired sizes. The cutting has to be done before the candy hardens or else the candy will crumble. Cool slightly then store in air tight container.

Regina’s Note:

• Almond, sesame seeds and grated coconut can be toasted in advance, then combine and keep warm in the oven until the syrup is ready. The reason for the warm ingredients is that the syrup hardens very easily especially when it comes in contact with cold or cool things, which will makes even coating more difficult.

• Kitchen towel at the bottom of the tray: This is to served as insulation, keep the coldness of the kitchen counter from penetrating the metal tray while you load up the almond mixture. It gives you more time to spread, shape and cut the candy before it hardens.

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