On my ninth birthday, my family and I went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate. It was then that I was told that it is a longstanding Chinese tradition that on someone's birthday, each person at the table is to eat a piece of chicken. Before this, I was completely oblivious to any cultural traditions concerning food. Now, it is an opportunity to be able to order my favourite chicken dish at the local Chinese restaurant.
The crispy fried chicken dish consists of about half a chicken, which has been fried for a very crispy skin and tender meat. It usually comes served with a small dipping bowl of pepper-salt and then covered with shrimp chips. The pepper-salt is essentially regular table salt that has been dry-fried in a wok to a dark white or gray colour, and has a delicious smoky flavour. The shrimp chips are shrimp-flavoured crisps, which are a personal favourite.
The reason why I love this chicken dish as opposed to others is that this one has many flavours. You can eat the chicken by itself with its contrast of soft meat and crunchy skin, or you can dip it in the pepper-salt for an added salty and smoky flavour. If you get tired of the chicken, you can have a shrimp chip. The best part of this dish is that it's interesting. When you order it, you will not be disappointed.
Recipe
Ingredients
– 1 whole chicken, 2-4 lbs depending on how many are eating
– 1 bottle of Chinese red vinegar*
– 2 tsp five spice powder*
– 2 Chinese star anises*
– 3-4 cups cooking oil
– ¼ cup salt
– 1 box of shrimp chips*
*can be found at Chinese specialty grocery stores and/or the ethnic section of
supermarkets.
Procedure
Chicken:
- Wash the chicken, and pat dry.
- Combine 2 teaspoons of salt, five spice powder, and star anises (broken into pieces) in a small bowl. Mix well.
- Rub the mixture inside the chicken. Set aside in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
- In a small pot, boil approximately half a bottle of Chinese red vinegar, depending on how big the chicken is.
- Using tongs to hold the chicken over a pan, pour the vinegar over the chicken. Do this 4 times: twice on the breast side, twice on the back side (reuse the vinegar that has fallen into the pan).
- Hang the chicken where there is good air circulation (e.g. shower rod) for about 2 hours.
- In a wok, heat up the oil to the point where it starts bubbling.
- Set the chicken in the wok. It should start sizzling right away.
- After a few minutes, flip to the other side. The colour of the skin should be a deep reddish brown.
- Once cooked, place the chicken in a large colander or on a bed of paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- Cut into pieces and place on a plate.
- Place the rest of the salt in a hot dry wok.
- Fry until the salt turns to a grayish colour.
- Serve in a small bowl with the chicken.
- Heat up a wok of oil. Use a couple of chips to test the temperature of the oil. The chips should not take long to puff. If it takes longer than 5 seconds, the oil is not hot enough. Once puffed, they should not burn immediately. If they do, the oil is too hot.
- Once the oil is at the ideal temperature, fry about a dozen chips.
- Place on a few paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- After slightly cooled and given the chance to be drained of excess oil, place over the chicken.
Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crispyfriedchicken.jpg
