Taiwanese fried chicken and sweet potato chips
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to update my blog for over a week due to a few things. First of all I’ve been working on a cook book, about favourite authentic recipes from my home country of Taiwan but also favourites that I have eaten in China and favourites as cooked by my grandparents who originate from China.
The other reason I haven’t updated my blog is I suffered a really bad burn on my arm at work which was fine for around a week, but several days ago I was opening scallop shells at work and got water from the shells in my burn. This resulted in my arm turning red and blowing up quite dramatically. I had to go to hospital and I was instructed to do absolutely nothing for 24 hours.
Most people think if you cut yourself or burn yourself you must let the wound breath and don’t cover it. Even my local pharmacist told me this but the doctor/nurse immediately dismissed this. 24 hours after taking penicillin tablets and wearing a gel patch with a dressing the swelling has come down.
The other thing that I want to reply to is Jenny who asked me a couple day ago about which dumpling pastry I used for my dumplings. Here is the photo of the pastry I used but I have to say I’m not entirely happy with this pastry. It’s a little bit thin so you must be carefully when you cook your dumplings. But otherwise it tastes better than other brands I’ve found in the UK. I hope my blog today help you a bit.
I think Taiwanese deep fried chicken (Sien shu gi) and sweet potato chips to Taiwanese people is just like “fish and chips” in UK to British people.
Taiwanese people love this deep fried chicken and sweet potato chips but this snack isn’t only confined to the night markets, it’s a snack that can be eaten anywhere, just like fish and chips in the UK. The chicken is crispy and crunchy with a strong fragrance.
Some businessmen will add some chopped garlic with the chicken to give it different flavour but here is my favourite recipe for this particular dish. I hope you will like it.
Credit: These photos were taken by Chris at Chris Radley Photography
Taiwanese fried chicken and sweet potato chips
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 whole chicken breasts
- 1 spring onion chopped finely
- 2 thin slices ginger chopped finely
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
Seasonings
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 1 cup sweet potato starch
Instructions
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Cut the chicken breasts into 2.5 cm cubes.
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Marinade the chicken with all of the seasonings, ginger and spring onion but not the sweet potato powder for 1 hour.
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Peel the sweet potato and cut into 8 cm long strips. Add a couple tablespoons of sweet potato powder into a big bowl with a little bit of water and mix evenly. Add the sweet potato chips into the bowl and coated with the mixture.
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Heat up 3 cups of oil to 180c then fry the chicken until the chicken turns to a golden colour and add some basil to fry it with chicken when the chicken has nearly cooked. (Please be careful in this step. Because the basil can make the oil splash really badly.) Fry the chips in the same way as well.
Lovely meal!
Thank you very much 🙂
Oooh, I knew I loved “American” fried chicken but after reading this post, I think I’d love Taiwanese fried chicken as well! Bookmarked this recipe as a must-try-soon 🙂
Hi, thank you for comments. You should definitely have a go at making this recipe, it’s really easy. I want to learn how to make proper American chicken one day, looks pretty awesome
Oh yum, I just love the sound of this. Also, your presentation with the mini bucket standing on that fabulous wood board is awesome.
Hi Debs, thanks for your kind comments. I just love the bucket when I saw it. It comes from the same company/catalogue that the restaurant I work in uses and I just had to buy it 🙂
Hi Liv, I’m so sorry to hear about your arm! I hope you are feeling better and that it heals quickly. Please be careful around scallop shells! 🙁 Your chicken and sweet potato fries look delicious, as do all your recipes! Looking forward to your cookbook!!!
Hi Judy, thank you for your concern about my arm, it has finally healed and I’m back cooking again. Scallops are even little things, they’re always try clamp down on my fingers when I open them but they’re so tasty.
Aw Liv, i’m sorry about your arm! hope it heals quick!
That’s so awesome you’re working on your cookbook! i can’t wait to see it. Love sweet potato fries! i think they taste better than regular potato. and of course, the chicken looks amazing!
Hi Tanantha, thank you for your kind comments. Sweet potato fries are just the best, they’re really tasty
Hi Liv,
Sorry to hear about your accident, I hope you heal completely very soon. How exciting about your cookbook, keep us all posted 🙂 I love your recipe, as usual. It sounds so yummy this “Taiwanese Fish & Chips ” . Take care.
Hi Nancy, thanks for your comment. My arm has thankfully recovered and the cookbook is nearly finished, just a couple days away from completion. I’ve put some recipes in it which aren’t in this blog which I’m sure will surprise some people. Lol about Taiwanese fish and chips 😀
Hi Liv, sorry about your burn. I hope it’s much better now.
Love this fried chicken and the sweet potato chips, sweet potato fries is my latest favorite. I look forward to your cookbook.
Hi Madin, thanks for your kind wishes. Chris and our friends absolutely love this fried chicken and before I made this Chris wasn’t a big fan of sweet potato but now he loves it.
Sorry about your arm, Liv. Hope you’re feeling better.
Your fried chicken looks great and I wish you well with your cookbook!
Hi Jean, thanks for your wishes. My arm is thankfully feeling a lot better now but it hurt like hell. The cookbook is nearly finished, can’t wait to show people.
Oh Liv, I am so sorry to hear about your arm, I hope you are recovering…burns can be so bad and just hard to work with especially around heat.
I know your cookbook will be a big success, I would like to pre order one for my school!
Your chicken looks delicious too, being a southern boy I love my fried chicken, we will just say its from southern China..lol
feel better my friend
Dennis
I’m sure you’ve had some pretty bad burns but thanks for your wishes. My arm is pretty much back to normal now thankfully and I’ll definitely send you a book once it has been published. Chris and I have been burning the midnight oil getting it finished and it’s just a couple days from completion. I love travelling around and trying the different versions of fried chicken, whether it’s in China, the UK or even Taiwan. I definitely want to try southern US chicken one day.
this looks great! I want to make the chips but have never seen it before. Can I substitute it with something else?