EXTRA CRISPY POPCORN CHICKEN

I thought I had graduated from the school dinner menu. After a long stint of cooking crumbed food for dinner, I have moved on to a more mature menu (all seen on my blog posts) when my children grew up.

I enjoy shopping for props for my blog (I hope you like looking at them) and sometimes they trigger a light bulb moment. I saw these popcorn boxes at Clas Ohlson and thought they were just too cute. The first recipe that popped in my mind was popcorn chicken. Why not? Ready-to-pop-in-the-mouth finger food is so fun.

This is not an just an exercise in having fun with food. As you know, I do take my food seriously. Although Colonel Sanders has great popcorn chicken, I want to make popcorn chicken that Mum's would happily serve their kids. I opted for skinless chicken thigh meat for better texture and flavour. The crumb mix is extra crispy thanks to crushed corn flakes. I added wholemeal flour for more flavour (also a good way of sneaking fiber into unknowing kids diet). The spice mix, of course, is the reason why I recommend this recipe. The testers (my own children, picky in taste, biased in opinion) preferred this to KFC's popcorn chicken.

This recipe is very easy and cooks fast. Although I fried these popcorn chicken, they could also be oven baked. The recipe could also be used for chicken (or any meat) cutlets. 

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients for the chicken:

800 gms. skinless and boneless chicken thighs (about 6 large thighs), cut into 1"          cubes
3 tbps. greek yoghurt

2 tbsps. light soy sauce

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 egg white

Instructions:

Put all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix very well.

Leave aside for half an hour.

In the meantime, prepare the crumb mixture.

Ingredients for the crumb mixture:

1/4 c. corn flour (corn starch)
1/2 c. wholemeal flour (or plain flour/all purpose flour)
1 c. coarse corn flake crumbs
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. onion granules

1 tsp. garlic granules

2 tsps. paprika

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. ground celery seeds
1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 tsps. fine salt
cooking oil for frying

Instructions:

Mix the flour and seasonings together in a large mixing bowl. 

Drop a few pieces of the seasoned chicken into the crumb mixture. Stir to coat very well.

Scrunch each piece of crumbed chicken into a ball as you take it out of the mixing bowl and transfer to a tray.

Leave the prepared chicken pieces aside for about half an hour to let the coating set.

Heat up a wok or frying pan.

Add in enough oil for deep frying.

When the oil is hot, add in a few pieces of chicken at a time. Fry for 3-5 minutes per batch on medium low heat, until full cooked, browned and crisped.

Transfer to a kitchen paper lined tray to soak up excess oil.

These popcorn chicken can also be baked in a pre-heated oven (400° F/200° C) for about 20 minutes. Drizzle with oil before baking. Test for doneness before taking out of the oven.

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