Japanese Salt and Pepper Fried Chicken

I’m a big fan of fried chicken, and this Japanese Salt and Pepper Fried Chicken is a family recipe that I have been eating for years. My Grandma came up with it many years ago, and my Mom adapted it over the years to get the exact measurements for us. I’m pretty sure we like it saltier than my Grandma. This chicken is so versatile. You can eat it by itself as an appetizer, over rice as a main dish, and in a chicken tender salad with spinach. There are many things that make this fried chicken amazing, but one of them is that the chicken is a good mix of texture and savoriness to be star in a main role or as a compliment in a salad.

Tips for cooking Japanese salt and pepper chicken

1. If you don’t have a tenderizer I would suggest using a knife and pounding it with the edge. Don’t cut the chicken, but make indentions.
2. Press the batter into the crevices of the chicken. This is important if you want that chewiness and saltiness to get into the flavor.
3. You can eat this chicken hot or cold, it does well as a leftover too!

What to serve with salt and pepper chicken

1. Sauce – I think it is fine to eat Japanese salt and pepper fried chicken without any sauce, but if you are a saucy person my go to sauces are bulldog tonkatsu sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce of any kind.
2. Rice – I’m a rice with everything guy.
3. Pickled White Radish – I eat this cubed radish with all of my fried chicken. I picked up this habit from Korean wing restaurants.

If you are into Asian chicken dishes I would recommend this Baked Chicken Katsu and Honey Soy Garlic Chicken Teriyaki. If you just want some good wings then I like this Baked Honey BBQ chicken wing.

Japanese Salt and Pepper Fried Chicken

Japanese salt and pepper fried chicken is a tried and tested recipe that is savory, crispy, and amazing. It is the perfect texture along with the right amount of savoriness to be at home as an appetizer or for a salad.

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Servings 4

Equipment

• Wok

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lbs Chicken breast
• 5 cups Vegetable oil

Batter

• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• 3 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Celery salt
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 2 tsp Lemon pepper marinade seasonings (Mccormick or Spice Islands)

Instructions

 

• Get ingredients.
• Mix the batter well and place this flour mix into a zip-lock bag
  
• Pound the chicken breasts with a tenderizer to create a rough and uneven surface before cutting them into bite-size pieces. About 1 1/2 inch cubes is great. The batter would stick to the chicken pieces better if the skin is not smooth.
  
• Moist the raw chicken pieces with water before dredging one by one into the flour mix in the plastic bag.
• Press the batter to the pieces hard.
  
• Deep fry until golden brown . Start with high heat then immediately lower the heat to medium setting. If you want to test the oil I put wooden chopsticks in and wait for bubbles to form around it. Deep fry the chicken for about 5 minutes in your wok. I would only do about 4-5 pieces per batch, scoop out any batter between frying, and then fry another batch. You want the chicken to be golden brown.
  
• I always taste one finished piece after the first batch to see if they are cooked after a certain time, and determine how long it would take to deep fry once it turns the certain golden brown color. Sometimes I cook a little longer and make the the batter a little darker to get them more crispy.
  
• I would serve this with steam rice or I like to chop it into thin strips and put it on a salad with butter milk ranch.
  

Keyword chicken, pepper, salt

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