Taiwanese Style Fried Chicken Sandwich

We absolutely love anything fried chicken, so you bet we made a fried chicken sandwich!

Taiwanese style fried chicken sandwich is an Asian fusion recipe inspired by popcorn chicken. This recipe uses tapioca starch, five spice, pickled cabbage, and sweet chili sauce to make a crispy, fried chicken sandwich that’s just plain good.

We did our best to channel the classic popcorn chicken snack into an irresistible fried chicken sandwich!

Read on for the recipe!

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Popcorn Chicken, with a Twist!

Our Taiwanese style fried chicken sandwich is inspired by popcorn chicken, a popular Taiwanese night market food.

The bite-sized chicken are seasoned with aromatic spices, dipped in starch, fried, and served with fried Thai basil and sweet chili sauce.

While it began as a street food, many restaurants and boba shops now serve popcorn chicken.

There are many methods and ingredients that chefs use to create this type of crispy, fried chicken, but in our recipe we’re keeping it simple so you can make it at home with ease!

Our dish is also something that we imagined would be served at an Asian American night market, like 626 or OC Night Market.

If you’ve never been, these markets are full of exciting and creative Asian American foods like sushi burgers, wagyu sandos, pizza baos, and more! Don’t you think our sandwich would fit in?

Featuring the New Fry Deck by Our Place

Our Place is at it again! They just released their new product, the Fry Deck. It rests perfectly on top of the Always Pan, providing a space to drip dry your fried foods!

The Fry Deck REDUCES WASTE by allowing the frying oil to drip back into the pan for reuse, and eliminating the need to lay out paper towels to absorb the excess oil 💚

We use our Always Pan on a daily basis and are so stoked whenever a new attachment increases its multifunctionality.

Frying For Beginners

Before we begin the recipe, we’d like to offer up some frying basics in case you’ve never fried or need to jog your memory.

Neutral oils for frying – includes vegetable, canola, grapeseed, sunflower, etc. Stay away from olive oil and other low smoke point oils. You’ll want to fill your pan with oil to a depth between 1-2 inches.

Equipment you’ll need – a frying pan or cast iron, a drying rack (check out our Our Place Always Pan/Fry Deck combo!), & tongs.

Highly recommended items – splatter screen & food thermometer.

We highly recommend using a food thermometer, as it will take the guesswork out of monitoring the oil temp and checking if the chicken is fully cooked.

If you don’t have a thermometer, you can alternatively use the chopstick method to check if the oil is hot enough for cooking.

Here’s how you do it: stick the end of a wooden chopstick into the oil.

If a steady stream of bubbles appear – you’re ready to cook! If there are no bubbles, the oil isn’t hot enough. If there are lots of vigorous bubbles, your oil is too hot.

Ingredients

Fried Chicken

• 1 tsp five spice
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1½ lbs chicken thigh (about 4 pieces, skin is optional)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup tapioca flour or coarse ground sweet potato starch
• neutral oil for frying
• 8 pieces basil thai basil recommended, italian basil OK

We recommend Thai basil for the most authentic flavor for popcorn chicken. However if you’re in a pinch like us you may use Italian basil, teared in halves or thirds depending on the size.

Normally we have no problem finding Thai basil in our local grocers, but this week while we were working on this blog post we couldn’t find any! Talk about bad timing.

Popcorn chicken is originally made with coarse ground sweet potato starch, while tapioca flour is the most popular alternative.

We opted for tapioca flour in this recipe since we had it in our pantry already, and you’ll see in the recipe instructions that we use water and tapioca to form beads to enhance the crispy texture.

Pickled Cabbage

• 4 cups cabbage chopped
• ⅓ cup carrots shredded
• 2 tbsp salt
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 thai chili peppers chopped

Sandwich Assembly

• kewpie
• brioche bun or milk bun
• fried chicken
• pickled cabbage
• fried basil

Recipe

Pickle the cabbage (recommended at least 1 day before)

1. In a bowl, mix together cabbage, carrots, and salt. Cover and place a heavy object on top (we used a box of salt). Let it rest for 45 minutes.

2. Heat rice vinegar, sugar, and water together until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool to room temp.

3. Drain the cabbage mixture. Then wash with water to remove the salt. Squeeze extra liquid out by hand or with a towel.
4. Add in the chilis to the cabbage mixture.

5. Fill a glass container with the cabbage mixture and the pickling liquid. Seal tightly and let it rest in the fridge for 24 hours.

Marinate the Chicken

1. Mix five spice and white pepper together.
2. Marinate chicken thighs in soy sauce, sugar, and 1 tsp seasoning mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Fry

1. Mix tapioca flour with 1 tsp seasoning. Splash a small amount of water on top, then gently stir to form “beads” – this will enhance the crunchy texture.

2. Coat the chickens evenly in the flour mix.
3. Fry the chicken in neutral oil at 350 F, for 6-8 min each side. While frying, use a thermometer to monitor the oil temp and internal chicken temp. Chicken is cooked at an internal temperature of 165F.
4. Once cooked, place the chicken on a drying rack and let it cool for 5 min.

5. Flash fry the basil for 10 seconds. Make sure the basil is dry beforehand, and be careful of oil splashes. Place on the drying rack and let cool.

Assemble the sandwich

1. Spread kewpie on the brioche bun. Then add fried chicken, pickled cabbage, and fried basil.
2. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Tips on Making Taiwanese Style Fried Chicken Sandwich

• Pay close attention while the chicken is frying! You may need to monitor the temp of the oil by adjusting the heat. Also, it’s a good idea to move the chicken around so the bottoms won’t get burned.
• Use dry basil when flash frying – if they’re wet they may cause lots of bubbles that can burst and burn you.
• Plan to make the pickled cabbage at least one day before eating your sandwich

Final Thoughts

Scrumptious popcorn chicken (in sandwich form) is bound to please the most demanding of tastebuds. Use the recipe to experience the ultimate flavor party!

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this recipe, please give a star rating and review on the recipe card below + share your creations on Instagram and tag us @itsforkandspoon!

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References & Further Reading

https://foodhistory.opened.ca/taiwanese-popcorn-chicken/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_fried_chicken