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This is such an addictive appetizer! Tender, juicy fried chicken tossed in the "dust" which is toasted rice and Thai herbs ground up into this magical powder! If you've had laab before, you know how much toasted rice powder can transform a dish, now imagine it around fried chicken! Served with a classic "jeaw" dipping sauce, it's the perfect finger food to have with a cold fizzy bevvy!
P.S. It's gluten-free!
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Dusty Chicken! Toasted Rice Crusted Chicken
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
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- 300g boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh, cut into bite-sized strips
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp fish sauce
- Cornstarch or all-purpose flour
- Oil for frying
Toasted Rice “Dust”
- ¼ cup sticky rice
- 1 ½ inch lemongrass
- 2 slices galangal
- 2 kaffir lime leaves
- ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- Roasted chili flakes, to taste
Jeaw dipping sauce
- 1½ Tbsp tamarind juice
- 1½ Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped and tightly packed
- 1 Tbsp hot water
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1½ Tbsp lime juice
- Chili flakes, to taste
- 2-3 sprigs cilantro, chopped
- 1 Tbsp of the toasted rice dust
Instructions
To make jeaw dipping sauce, place the sugar in a bowl and cover with hot water, let sit for a minute and stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Add all remaining ingredients except cilantro and toasted rice dust. Let it sit until ready to serve.
Marinate chicken: Combine chicken with white pepper, soy sauce and fish sauce. Set aside while you make the toasted rice dust.
Make the toasted rice dust: In a dry saute pan or wok, add the rice, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Turn the heat on to medium high and stir constantly until the rice is a deep brown colour (it will get a little smokey). Transfer onto a plate to cool. Once cooled, place the toasted rice and herbs, sugar, salt and white pepper in a coffee grinder and grind for a few seconds just until it's mostly fine with some bigger grains mixed in (don't let it turn into a completely fine powder so you get a bit of texture). Place the "dust" in a large mixing bowl.
Fry the chicken: Heat about 1.5 inches of oil to 375°F. While waiting, toss the chicken in cornstarch or flour, making sure all the pieces are separated, then toss the chicken in a sieve to remove excess flour. Fry the chicken only for 1-2 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove and set aside. Once all the chicken is fried, place all of the chicken into the dust bowl and toss to thoroughly coat all the pieces. (If you want to throw the chicken like I did in the video, try not to breathe while doing it because you'll end up inhaling some!)
Finish the dipping sauce by adding the chopped cilantro and the toasted rice dust. Serve immediately, enjoy!
Dave says
Absolutely amazing. This is one of those recipes where you can’t believe something so easy could taste so good. It’s going to seem like a lot of “dust”, but if the chicken is hot out of the oil and just barely drained, it will stick a lot better than you’d imagine. Also, don’t skip the nam jim jeaw — it’s the perfect accompaniment and any “dust” that washes off into it just makes it better and better as you go along. Would make a great appetizer, but also a perfect quick lunch with a little rice on the side. And all of the herbs in the dust are the ones that can comfortably live in your freezer and which you’ll need over and over again for a ton of other dishes — the only non-staple ingredients here are the chicken and the cilantro. What’s not to love?
Stephen Chan says
Just like a deep-fried version of Laab, just without mint. I served it with some sticky rice as a meal, it’s not just an appetiser material.