Cooking a whole chicken may be daunting and not be in everyone’s comfort zone, but it’s my favourite way to enjoy the protein and I highly recommend finding a recipe to try out. From roasting to rotisserie to deep frying, there are endless options. There’s also so many delicious cuts of chicken aside from breast, thigh or drumstick. I really like the back pieces and we’re still figuring out where the oyster is. With a whole chicken, there’s no need to choose between dark or white meat and it’s great for meal prepping. We also like to carve the chicken and save the bones for broth.

This recipe for Crispy Chicken isn’t exactly a beginner one, but the effort (and upper arm strength required) is worth it! Tender meat and crispy honeyed skin. The key is to be patient. We burned one side of the skin because Stephen got tired holding the chicken up for so long over the wok. I would recommend finding a way to hang the chicken, or a comfortable way to hold it over the wok for at least 10 minutes. Being higher over the wok on a stool would have helped.

Yum

Crispy Whole Chicken

Prep Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• 3 slices of ginger
• 3 whole star anise
• 1 tsp of crushed Sichuan peppercorn
• 3 tbsp of honey
• 2 tbsp salt
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. In a large stock pot, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil and add in five spice powder, star anise, salt, ginger and peppercorn. Place chicken in boiling water, making sure it's fully submerged and simmer on low for 25-30 minutes. At this point the chicken be fully cooked with an internal temperature of 165°F.
2. Remove chicken from water and hang to air dry.
3. When the chicken is cool to touch, brush honey onto the skin ensuring full coverage and continue to dry. The full drying time should be minimum of 4 hours.
4. Heat oil in wok to 350°F.
5. Slowly lower the chicken into the oil and ladle hot oil on the side that is not submerged. Continue ladling oil and rotating the chicken in the frying oil until the chicken is crispy and golden brown all over.
6. Allow to cool and carve to serve.

0.1

The Hubby and I are continuing our Sichuan kick in the kitchen these days, mainly because my family keeps me in stock of incredibly fragrant Sichuan Peppercorns. The next dish we decided to try our hands at was La Zhi Ji Ding, deep fried morsels of chicken, wok-fried with dry chili peppers and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. At restaurants I love picking out the pieces of chicken from the sea of chili peppers, like a tasty treasure hunt. Making the dish ourselves we used fewer chili peppers, but far more potent ones. Trying to maximize the amount of wok-air (and get photos), we let the oil get a little too hot and the chili peppers did blacken. I’d recommend adding the aromatics to the wok as soon as the oil begins to smoke.

La Zhi Ji Ding

2016-07-31 21:58:29

Serves 2

Deep fried bite-size pieces of chicken with spicy chili peppers and numbing Sichuan peppercorns

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Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 20 chicken wings, deboned and cut into small cubes
2. 2 tbsp rice wine
3. 1 tbsp soy sauce
4. 1/4 tsp salt
5. 1 egg white
6. 3 tbsp cornstarch
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 1/4 cup dried whole chili peppers
9. 2 cloves of garlic minced
10. 2 spring onions, diced
11. 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns crushed

Instructions

1. Debone the chicken wings and cut into small pieces.
2. Marinate the chicken with thr rice wine, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and salt for 30 minutes.
3. After the chicken is marinated, add the cornstarch, egg white and mix well.
4. In a sauce pan (or deep fryer), heat the oil to 375F and fry the battered chicken until golden.
5. In a wok, heat up 1 tbsp of the oil used for frying the chicken. Once the oil begins to smoke, add the garlic and dry chili peppers.
6. Fry until fragrant and remove from heat. Add in the cooked chicken, crushed Sichuan peppercorns and toss together. Garnish with chopped green onions before serving.

Notes

1. We used chicken wings because that's what we had on hand and the ratio of skin to dark meat was perfect. Other cuts of chicken can also be used, and would cut done on prep time with less intense de-boning required.

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Heat up oil and fry the chicken

Fry chicken until golden and set aside

In a hot wok, heat up oil and add the garlic and dry chili peppers. Once fragrant, add the cooked chicken, Sichuan peppercorns and toss together.

A month before our wedding, I was hit with a huge craving for KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). Fried chicken wasn’t really part of “wedding diet”, but my appetite is stronger than my self control. It helps (or not) that The Hubby also can’t resist fried goodness. So we drove up to Home of Hot Taste for a weekend dinner.

Atmosphere: Walking up to the restaurant, The Hubby was worried. “Are you sure this place does KFC? There’s lots of ads for other Korean dishes”. I assured him we were at the right place. The restaurant was casual and had lots of high, private booths, perfect alcoves for binging on chicken and beer. While we ate, quite a few customers came by to pick up take-out orders. I could see the space filled with families for dinner and shifting to a younger crowd, later at night.

Service: One downside of high booth walls was how hidden we were. If the server wasn’t paying 100% attention, it was sometimes hard to get his attention. Other than this, we were seated quickly, food arrived hot and service was standard. A few weeks later two of our friends stopped by. They tried to order the spicy chicken with the sauce on the side, they meant to order the regular chicken with the sauce on the side. Rather than correcting them or giving them options, the server said the spicy chicken was as is. This may have been a language issue but it would’ve been nice for the server to be flexible, offer ideas, or different menu options if their order didn’t make sense.

Food: For the two of us, we ordered a whole order of Original Fried Chicken with a side of Spicy, Sweet Sauce. I really wanted to try one of their Blazing Fire plates but the price and portion size would’ve been too much food for two people, especially as The Hubby didn’t want anything spicy. The side dishes also looked like full plates, so we just stuck with chicken.

Only two side dishes were served, an iceberg salad and pickled radish. On the menu it listed the cost of ordering additional side dishes ($0.50 for radish). This was a little disappointing, but again not the reason we were at the restaurant.

Our platter of fried chicken arrived with a cup of seasoning (salt, pepper, etc) and spicy sauce. That sauce, holy cow that was spicy. I was glad we ordered the original flavour and I could control the heat myself. Even then, a few drops was fire and my lips were burning. Drenched in the sauce, each bite would have been a challenge to eat.

The chicken itself was juicy, tender and thoroughly cooked. I loved the pieces of dark meat. The batter was light, crispy and not at all oily. I wish the breast pieces were chopped smaller so there would be more delicious batter. Based on chicken alone, Home of Hot Taste and The Fry are pretty close to par. However, Home of Hot Taste does deliver more taste bud scorching and a larger variety of menu items.

On my way to work, I noticed a change in one of the restaurants along Yonge. A neighbour of Nome and Kenzo, previously an Italian restaurant, bore a simple new sign with the name “The Fry”. After reading a blog review and finding out they specialized in KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), my next dinner out was decided.

Atmosphere: The interior decor of The Fry hasn’t changed much from the previous occupants. The wooden tables and booths seem a dated but the lighting has been dimmed and the music turned up. Another difference was how full the restaurant was. We were lucky to get a table before the line started forming outside and the queue was steady throughout the night. Diners ranged from young families to boisterous friends all enjoying the fried chicken and pitchers of beer.

Service: I only saw two servers taking care of the floor who were responsible for seating guests, taking orders, serving plates and clearing tables. Our order arrived quickly and hot, but it was a busy night and it was challenging to flag down one of the girls to refill side dishes or water. The service was professional but another body could have eased the rushed vibe and made time for a warmer interaction.

Food: Korean Fried Chicken differs the most from North American style in the cooking process. KFC is fried twice, resulting in a crunchier, less greasy skin. I found the chicken pieces were also smaller and more tender than at Western bars.

Every time I’m hungry I make the same mistake of listening to my stomach over my brain. The menu lists all different ways KFC can be enjoyed with different sauces, portions and cuts. There are also beer and chicken combos at three different price ranges. Since both The Fiance and I were hungry, we thought we needed at least a Large portion of the chicken and ordered the Half and Half Beer Combo C. This combo allowed us to try two flavours and wash it all down with a pitcher of domestic beer. We chose the dry and classic sauce options.

After we placed our order, a sectioned plate with side dishes was served along with our pitcher. The three side dishes provided was an iceberg salad, pickled radish and macaroni salad. I’ve always loved sweet pickled radish and the cubes at The Fry were perfect, crispy, sweet and sour. We ordered refills throughout our meal.

The chicken lived up to all of my expectations and more. The skin was crispy, well seasoned and the meat tender and moist. One of the best pieces of fried chicken I’ve had in Toronto. I enjoyed the tangy classic sauce while The Fiance preferred the dry option. Both were excellent and I can’t wait to go back to try the spicy sauce. All cuts of the chicken were used, which resulted in some boneless pieces and a nice ratio or dark and white meat.

I do have to caution that a large portion is too much chicken for two people. We were one piece away from finishing our meal, but it was a belt-loosening, wish I had worn stretchy pants kind of finish. Next visit, I’ll be prepared.

Blackened Chicken Breast

2014-06-26 18:52:20

Serves 2

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

15 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

15 min

Ingredients

1. 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2. 1/2 tsp paprika
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5. 1/4 tsp ground cumin
6. 1/4 tsp dried thyme
7. 1/8 tsp of ground white pepper
8. 1/8 tsp onion powder
9. 1/2 tbsp cooking wine

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat your cast iron pan on the stove top over medium heat until oil just begins to smoke.
2. Mix together the spices and set aside. Prep your chicken by pounding the breasts into thin flat pieces and soak with cooking wine. Coat each piece evenly with the spice mixture and place into the hot pan.
3. Sear each side of the chicken for 1 minute and then transfer the cast iron pan into the oven.
4. Bake for another 5-10 mins depending on the thickness of the breast.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Adapted from allrecipes.com

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos

Assemble spices for rub

Mix the spices and pound out the chicken

Sear the chicken before finishing them in the oven