Two Great Chicken Recipes, Baked & Fried! 🌞

Ed. Note: This 1st recipe we (Mrs JP & I) tried out Wednesday evening.
The high heat and the marinade worked together in concert, protecting
the large, thick, chicken breasts, and the 25 minute cooking time did
not have a chance to heat up the kitchen. Sweet, spicy with a nice kick,
the dish blew us both away. We accompanied it with Thai Red Cargo rice.
This heavily flavored, nutty rice has been known to overwhelm meat
courses, (not in his case)! Highly recommended!

Firecracker Chicken




Prep 5 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total 30 minutes

Sweet, spicy, and sticky, this Firecracker Chicken is baked (not fried!)
in just 30 minutes. Juicy chicken breasts are coated in a sweet heat
sauce made with Sriracha, garlic, and brown sugar, making it perfect
for weeknights when you need dinner fast but still crave bold flavor.

4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless (about 1 1/2 lbs))

Firecracker Sauce

3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger (fresh, chopped)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium)
2 tablespoon brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon hot sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 teaspoon black pepper (ground)


Optional Garnish
1 green onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon parsley (fresh, chopped)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450℉.

In a small bowl whisk all the sauce ingredients together until combined.

Place chicken in a 9×13-inch baking dish and pour half the sauce
over the chicken. Brush the sauce evenly over the entire surface
of the chicken. Flip the chicken breasts over and pour remaining
sauce over. Brush or spoon sauce from the pan over the chicken,
making sure it's fully covered.

Transfer the baking dish, uncovered, to the preheated oven and
bake for 18 to 25 minutes. The baking time could different
depending on the thickness of the chicken breast. The breast
is cooked when it's completely opaque all the way through and
registers 165℉ to 170℉ on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for about 5
minutes before serving.

Serve with your favorite side dish.

From https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/firecracker-chicken/


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Taiwanese Fried Chicken



Taiwanese fried chicken! | have so many childhood memories of eating
this with friends at night markets, and it was one of the three items we
sold when we first started BAO as a market stall, along with the Classic
Pork BAO and the Daikon BAO. These memories of fried chicken have
now been replaced with memories and stories involving our pursuit of
perfecting BAO’s fried chicken over the years.

Right from the beginning we had spreadsheets full of marinade timings
and frying stages that we tested to get the juiciness and crispiness we
wanted. We discovered that there was a certain amount of time you
could keep the flour on the meat and a specific way to coat the chicken
with the flour using a flick of your palm. This journey made us very
protective of the recipe. So many people would quiz us, trying to find
out the Hour and the spice mix we used, especially in our market days.
There weren't many Taiwanese restaurants back then, so it wasn’t readily
available information.

The lengths we went to keep the fried chicken coating a secret ... we would
have the flour delivered to another location or beat the staff to the delivery
so we could hide it and empty the small packets into clear containers when
everyone had left. The spice and marinade mix were the hardest to keep
doing in secret -it was only a couple of years ago that we had that moment,
looking at each other, lab coats on, rubber gloves on, masks on, on a hot
summer day in an unventilated office, when we asked ourselves, Why are
we still doing this every week? That Powder in large volumes really gets
up your nose! At that, we decided we had had enough and eventually
moved the Process to an external producer with a signed NDA. But now,
after all that secrecy, it is here for you to see.

Serves 2-3

For the Marinated Chicken:

200 ml soy milk, plus extra if needed
1 clove garlic, grated
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
300 g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 10 equal pieces

For the spiced flour mix:

200 g (7 oz) tapioca flour (starch)
1 teaspoon red Sichuan peppercorns, ground to a powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon salt

in the refrigerator overnight. If you are in a hurry, marinate for 1 hour at room
temperature. When ready to cook, run your fingers through the chicken mixture
to moisten any overlapping pieces. If it requires more soy milk, add some now
so all the chicken pieces are submerged in the marinade.

Spiced flour mix 'n a bowl, mix together all the ingredients, making sure the
spices are evenly distributed. To assemble Toss a piece of chicken straight
from the marinade into the flour mix. Boll it around lightly with your fingers
to form a nugget shape.

Do not flatten it or try to press more of the mix onto it. If you want more spiced
flour on the chicken, roll it in the bowl of flour mix a few times and dust extra
spiced flour mix on top. Make sure the piece is fully coated, then transfer to a
plate or tray. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken pieces.

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan to 160°C/325°F, or untila cube of
ginger sizzles and browns in 20 seconds. Very lightly shake off any excess flour
mix, then -in 2 batches - carefully hold the chicken and slowly drop it away from
you into the hot oil and deep-fry for 3 minutes until cooked through, lightly
golden and crisp.

Remove with the tongs or slotted spoon,drain on paper towels and leave to cool
completely. When cool, reheat the oil to 190°C/375°F and deep-fry again for 2 minutes.

Place the chicken pieces in a shallow bowl and drizzle with hot sauce to serve.

Tip

The double-fry technique for the chicken pieces gives the coating extra
ctispiness while ensuring that the centre remains incredibly juicy. If you
are feeling lazy, then just deep-fry the chicken once for 4 minutes at
180°C/350°F, of until a cube of ginger sizles and browns in 10 seconds
It won't have quite the same super-crispy texture but it will still be juicy

From "BAO The Cookbook"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63027862-bao

Yum Chik'n!!