Crisp Five-Spice Chicken
To be strictly authentic, the chicken should be fried whole for this Southeast Asian dish. However, that uses a lot of oil and is a task many of us, including me, prefer to avoid. So I suggest using pieces of fresh (definitely not frozen) chicken instead. The wonderful warm aroma of five-spice powder permeates the chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (2½ to 3 lb), cut into serving pieces
- ½ cup corn flour
- 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp Chinese rice-wine, preferably Shao Hsing
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 small eggs, lightly beaten
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Instructions
- Rinse chicken under cold water and dry chicken pieces. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp corn flour.
- Mix the soy sauce, honey, rice wine, five-spice powder and salt in a bowl, then add chicken pieces and stir to coat well. Marinate for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
- Heat oil in wok. Remove chicken pieces from the marinade and drain well. Dip the chicken in beaten egg, then coat with corn flour, shaking off any excess.
- Fry the chicken, a few pieces at a time, until cooked and golden brown, about 5-6 minutes.