One of our favorite appetizers from a Taiwanese restaurant is their popcorn chicken! The chicken is juicy on the inside and light & crispy on the outside. It's also delightfully aromatic when combined with Thai basil. We love using our Ninja Max XL air fryer and decided to make this delicious dish as a healthier alternative.
Ingredients
2 lbs skin-less Chicken thighs, cut bite-sized
1/2 teaspoon Five spice powder (add more if you like stronger taste)
1/4 teaspoon White pepper
2 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole egg
1 cup Sweet potato starch
Thai basil leaves, handful
Avocado oil & spray (or any other high smoke point cooking oil)
Optional (If you like spicy)
Add dry mix of salt, paprika, chili powder, white pepper to sweet potato starch before coating chicken. (Even better option is ground sichuan peppercorn instead of paprika & chili powder).
Instructions
Marinate cubed chicken with five spice powder, white pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic for at least 30 minutes.
After marinating, add whole egg to the chicken and mix very well. You want the chicken to be wet so the starch can stick to it.
Pour 1 cup of sweet potato starch on a flat plate. Coat chicken piece by piece at a time in the starch. This part requires a lot of patience - you want each piece to be evenly coated to prevent clumps.
Place coated pieces on parchment paper & tray big enough to fit in the freezer. Freeze chicken for 15 minutes. This allows the starch to stick better for frying.
Preheat air fryer at 390F for 3 minutes. Brush each chicken pieces with oil. Spray air fryer basket with a little bit of oil. Place chicken into basket in single layer. DO NOT over crowd. Air fry chicken at 390F for 9 minutes (at 4.5 minutes left, open basket & spray a thin layer on top of chicken. Flip over and continue to cook).
Brush oil on both sides of basil leaves, add it to the chicken, air fry for another 3 minutes.
Notes
Each air fryer is different. You will have to play around with temp. & time settings to get it the way you like it.
Air frying will not taste exactly like deep frying but it's a healthier alternative. It also requires more time if you need to work in several batches if you have small air fryer.
You can bake or deep fry using this recipe.
Love using sweet potato starch for frying. Sweet potato starch is coarse and gives a nice crispy texture. We've tried corn starch & tapioca starch before and it wasn't as crispy.
If you make this recipe, we'd love to see it! Tag us at @NY.Foodie on your stories & posts.