This is a wonderful Americanized version of an extremely popular Sichuan Chinese dish. With twice-fried chicken, you get the crispy fried breading you'd expect, and the bang-bang sauce drizzle just makes the entire dish spectacular. You'll love this more than any Chinese takeout version.
Ingredients:
⅓ cup milk
1 egg
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup potato starch
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon shichimi togarashi (Japanese red pepper condiment)
oil for frying
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
Instructions
Step 1. Whisk together milk and egg in a bowl until smooth. Add chicken to egg wash and marinate for 15 minutes. Drain.
Step 2. Combine potato starch, flour, salt, pepper, and ground red pepper in a bowl and transfer into a large resealable bag. Add egg-washed chicken pieces and shake until each piece is completely dredged.
Step 3. Heat oil in a large skillet to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Step 4. Add chicken pieces into the oil in batches, about 5 to 8 pieces at a time, so as not to drop the temperature of the oil. Fry for 90 seconds. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Fry remaining chicken pieces.
Step 5. Increase oil temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). The oil should be continuously boiling at this point. Carefully re-add the first batch of chicken and fry another 90 seconds. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Fry and drain the remaining chicken. Transfer chicken to a medium bowl.
Step 6. Stir mayonnaise, honey, sweet chili sauce, and gochujang together in a small bowl. Toss fried chicken with sauce to coat.
Notes:
Potato starch is regularly used in Asian cuisine because it has a silkier feel and takes on a neutral flavor, but you can substitute cornstarch. You can use another hot sauce instead of gochujang and any ground red pepper other than togarashi.
It's really helpful to have a splatter screen if frying on the stovetop. The reason for twice-frying, or double-frying, is that it's the secret to crispier fried chicken!
