Spicy Fried Chicken

Spicy Fried Chicken

　　First created at Yulou Dong Restaurant in Changsha, this dish has a history of nearly 100 years. Spicy Fried Chicken is made primarily with about 500 grams of young hen, along with large red chili peppers or bird’s eye chilies, and Sichuan peppercorn as secondary ingredients. Stir-fried in tea oil and seasoned with Shaoxing wine, yellow rice vinegar, garlic, and a variety of spices, the chicken turns golden in color, crispy outside and tender inside, with a delicious flavor that has made it very popular. A diner once composed a poem on the spot: “Spicy Fried Chicken served with soup-braised tripe—makes one always remember Yulou Dong.” Later, chefs at Xiaoxiang Restaurant improved the recipe, prompting another diner to praise: “Crispy outside, tender inside, spicy chicken, golden hue and fresh taste. If you ask where’s the best eatery, Xiaoxiang beats Yulou Dong.” Nowadays, restaurants showcase their creativity by innovating ingredients and cooking methods, elevating Spicy Fried Chicken to new heights. (Changsha)

　　Cuisine: Hunan cuisine

　　Flavor: Spicy and numbing

　　Price: 40–80 RMB

　　Introduction:

　　First created at Yulou Dong Restaurant in Changsha, this dish has a history of nearly 100 years. A diner once composed a poem on the spot: “Spicy Fried Chicken served with soup-braised tripe—makes one always remember Yulou Dong.” Later, chefs at Xiaoxiang Restaurant improved the recipe, prompting another diner to praise: “Crispy outside, tender inside, spicy chicken, golden hue and fresh taste. If you ask where’s the best eatery, Xiaoxiang beats Yulou Dong.” Nowadays, restaurants showcase their creativity by innovating ingredients and cooking methods, elevating Spicy Fried Chicken to new heights.

　　Features: Golden color, glossy sauce, crispy outside and tender inside texture, with flavors of numbness, spice, aroma, saltiness, and umami.

　　Ingredients:

　　850g young chicken, 50g red chili pepper (fresh, pointed), 50g green garlic, 20g fermented bean starch (fava bean), 80g peanut oil, 15g cooking wine, 5g salt, 2g MSG, 1g Sichuan peppercorn, 15g soy sauce, 15g vinegar, 15g sesame oil.

　　Cooking Method:

　　1. Slaughter the young chicken, pluck all feathers, cut open the back and remove internal organs, rinse clean, remove all bones (both thick and thin), chop into 2cm cubes. Mix evenly with refined salt and soy sauce, coat with wet starch.

　　2. Wash fresh red chili pepper, remove stem and seeds, chop into 1cm cubes. Cut green garlic at an angle into sections, crush Sichuan peppercorn. Mix soy sauce, vinegar, MSG, sesame oil, clear broth, and wet starch into a sauce.

　　3. Place wok over high heat, add peanut oil, heat until 70% hot. Add chicken cubes, spread them out with a spatula. After about 20 seconds, scoop them out with a strainer.

　　4. When oil temperature returns to 70% hot, add chicken cubes again, fry until golden brown. Pour out together with oil and drain in a strainer.

　　5. Leave some oil in the wok, heat until 60% hot, add chopped red chili, green garlic sections, and Sichuan peppercorn. Stir-fry with refined salt, then add fried chicken cubes and stir-fry together. Pour in the prepared sauce, stir-fry a few times, then serve on a plate.

　　Tips:

　　1. It is best to use a six-month-old young chicken weighing about 400g—the meat is extremely tender and offers the best flavor.

　　2. When deboning the chicken, first make a vertical slit along the center of the chicken’s back from head to tail with a knife; then pull the wing to break the shoulder joint, lift the breast meat, remove the chicken oyster, cut the leg from the back joint, and pull the leg down; make a vertical slit along the leg bone to the bone, remove the thigh bone and shin bone; remove the two “chestnut” pieces of meat from the chicken back.

　　3. First score the chicken meat against the grain, then cut into cubes—this increases the surface area for heating, resulting in tender and flavorful meat.

　　4. Coat the meat with a thick starch slurry, let sit for 20 minutes to fully absorb seasoning, then mix by hand and shake off excess before adding to the wok.

　　5. Double-fry the chicken cubes. The first fry should be at a lower oil temperature to cook the chicken through; the second fry should be at a higher temperature and shorter time to brown the chicken and achieve a crispy outside and tender inside.

　　6. Stir the sauce well, pour it around the edge of the wok, shake the pan to allow the starch to fully gelatinize—when big bubbles form around the edges, flip and serve.

　　7. Due to the deep-frying process, prepare 1000g of lard in advance.