Hat Yai Fried Chicken ไก่ทอดหาดใหญ่ (gai tod hat yai)
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
- 1.5 lb chicken wings
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1-2 cilantro roots, roughly chopped
- heaping 1⁄4 tsp black peppercorns
- heaping 1/4 tsp white peppercorns
- 1.5 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce, I’m using Healthy Boy Brand mushroom soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt (if marinating overnight, cut down to 1/4 tsp)
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup water (If the chicken is already wet from washing, add only 1/4 cup)
- 1⁄2 cup thinly sliced shallots, small shallots are preferable
- 1⁄4 – 1⁄2 cup rice flour
INSTRUCTIONS
Lay the sliced shallots out on a plate lined with paper towel. Sprinkle salt over the shallot, you can be quite generous as you want to make sure all pieces are salted. Let the shallots sit, uncovered while you prepare the chicken.
To make the marinade: Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, cilantro roots, and peppercorns into a fine paste. Transfer the mixture into a zip-top bag (or whatever container you’re using to marinade the chicken) and add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and water. Mix well. Add the chicken and let marinade for 2 hours, flipping the bag half way through. If you’re marinading the chicken in a bowl, stir the chicken a couple of times in between.
Fry the shallots: Just before frying, take a piece of paper towel and press it onto the shallots to absorb all the water the shallots have given off. Add about 1″ of oil to a pot, and heat it over low heat. When the oil reaches about 275-300 degrees, add the all the shallots and stir until they turn golden brown (you can also add the shallots to cold oil and let them heat up together). Keep the heat low throughout the process and remove then slightly before they reach the desired colour as they will continue to darken. The shallots are crispy when the bubbling is stopped almost completely, so if your heat is sufficiently low, this should happen at the same time they are the right colour. Let them drain off on a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside.
Fry the chicken: In the same pot you used to fry the shallots, add more oil so you have about 2″ of oil. Take the chicken out of the bag and put them into a large mixing bowl. Add the rice flour, 1/4 cup at a time, and stir until you have a thin batter coating the chicken. Fry the chicken on 350 F for 4-6 minutes until done.
To serve: Serve the fried chicken with sticky rice and sprinkle fried shallots over both the chicken and the rice. Enjoy!
Hat Yai Fried Chicken ไก่ทอดหาดใหญ่
