Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

Crispy bite-sized breaded fried chicken with holy basil

Prep Time25

Cook Time12

Marinating time3

Total Time3 37

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: Taiwanese

Keyword: chicken popcorn, popcorn chicken, street food

Servings: people

Calories: 10419kcal

Author: Vanjo Merano

Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces.
2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs
Arrange sliced chicken in a mixing bowl and add the marinade ingredients. Mix well. Cover the bowl. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
8 grams Maggi Magic Sarap, 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons five spice powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
Combine 1 cup of tapioca flour with the marinated chicken. Sprinkle around 1 tablespoon of water and dredge the chicken until it gets completely coated. Let it stay for at least 3 minutes.
1 cup tapioca flour
Heat the oil to 300F.
4 cups cooking oil
Deep fry the chicken for 6 to 7 minutes.
Remove from the pot and arrange over a wire rack.
Fry the basil for 1 minute.
1 cup holy basil
Place everything in a clean mixing bowl. (See notes³)
Sprinkle salt and ground black pepper. Toss.
2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Serve and enjoy!

Holy basil (also called tulsi in India or bai kraprao in Thailand) is a fragrant herb that’s commonly used in Southeast Asian cooking. It has a peppery, clove-like, slightly spicy flavor that’s quite different from the sweet and mild taste of Italian basil (aka "normal basil" in most kitchens). Aside from that, holy basil holds up well to frying while the normal basil wilts quickly, so it's not really suitable in our Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken.
Chinese Five-Spice Powder is a classic seasoning mix made up of, you guessed it, five spices. First, we have star anise, which gives a sweet licorice aroma to our popcorn chicken. Next, cloves for the rich and slightly bitter balance. Cassia, or Chinese cinnamon, gives a sweet and spicy attack. Sichuan peppercorns are numbing and citrusy, and fennel seeds are sweet and aromatic. The spices don’t punch you in the face, it just lingers and leaves you wanting more.
If you toss holy basil with crispy fried popcorn chicken, it'll become almost powdery. This is because after frying, they curl up, crisp up, and shatter like paper-thin chips. Now, once you toss those crispy holy basil bits with the fried chicken, the residual heat and movement from tossing make the basil crumble even more. They break down into those fragrant, almost powdery specks that coat the chicken.