The boys are suckers for anything crispy and so I indulge them at least once a week. My last post was fried-and-crispy dumplings and was our lunch about a couple of weeks ago. With fried chicken, breaded ala-Jollibee is already a given but I am thinking more ala-Max’s. My usual take was salt-and-pepper marinated, deep-fried with water sprinkling to make crispier skin. Then a couple of months ago I stumbled upon few recipes online that involve steaming the chicken first before frying. Malou’s in particular is the one that inspired me the most. Makes perfect sense; like boiling pork belly before frying to make lechon kawali.  From then on, when I plan on serving unbreaded crispy chicken – whole, halves or drumsticks – this is how it goes. Crispy on the outside, succulent and juicy inside.
Ingredients:
1/2 corn-fed free range chicken
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Spring onion stalks (optional)
Bay leaves (optional)
Patis (fish sauce, optional)
Rub chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper, and let stand for at least 15 minutes. Add spring onion stalks, bay leaves and patis to water in a steamer. Steam chicken for about 20 minutes.
Remove chicken to cool down. Sprinkle more salt (or rub patis) all over and leave to dry for about 10-15 minutes.
Heat enough oil in a wok. Deep-fry chicken for 5-8 minutes each side. Scoop out and drain on paper towels. Let stand for 5 minutes. (You’re free to stop here and serve.)
Again, heat wok with oil and fry the second time, approx. 3 minutes each side or until desired. Drain on paper towels and let stand for at least 5 to 10 minutes before serving. The 20-minute steaming time plus the additional 2nd frying is just right to cook the chicken to the bone but not dry. Let the meat rest after each frying so that juices can sink back into the meat and stay succulent.
The boys love ‘em with homemade gravy. I also made a side soup out of the liquid used to steam chicken. I added few cups of chicken stock to the steamer pot and  cook potatoes in it. Best to garnish with spring onion and crispy fried garlic.
Some may argue that taste-wise there’s no difference between free-range chicken and ordinary chicken. I beg to disagree. In my opinion there really is a major flavor difference. Well, at least here in NZ. Iba talaga ang lasa lalo na yung corn-fed, mas malinamnam talaga. I am still happy buying regular chicken when cooking the likes of adobo, curry and fried chicken wings but I opt for organic to cook chicken rice, pinaupo, tinola and fried whole chicken or drumsticks (below).
- ½ corn-fed free range chicken
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Spring onion stalks (optional)
- Bay leaves (optional)
- Fish sauce (optional)
- Rub chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper, and let stand for at least 15 minutes. Add spring onion stalks, bay leaves and fish sauce to water in a steamer. Steam chicken for about 20 minutes.
- Remove chicken to cool down. Sprinkle more salt (or rub fish sauce) all over and leave to dry for about 10-15 minutes.
- Heat enough oil in a wok. Deep-fry chicken for 5-8 minutes each side. Scoop out and drain on paper towels. Let stand for 5 minutes. (You may stop here and serve.)
- Again, heat wok with oil and fry the second time, approx. 3 minutes each side or until desired. Drain on paper towels and let stand for at least 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.
Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.
i will definitely choose Max’s fried chicken over Jollibee Chicken Joy any time.:p
your crisp chicken is mouth-watering! the golden skin is sinfully tempting.:p
Luna Miranda recently posted Moon-gazing/SWF
Double fried chicken, awesome! This one’s a winner!
the food dude recently posted Food News: Figaro’s Cool Avalanche of Flavors
Looks crispy indeed! Makes me long for Max’s chicken.
Here is mine and this too.
Mylene recently posted BC Bloggers Meme: 30 Things About Me
OMG! I have to make this ASAP.:)
Oggi recently posted Turon Pie
Looks good!!
Ann recently posted Chili Poppers
Amazing! The chicken surely looks delicious and crunchy!
Tito Eric of Panglao Island, Bohol recently posted Supporting our local farmers’ markets
omg… yummyyyy
Yah know, I do the boiling first before frying sometimes on non-breaded chicken. Never knew that it’s similar to Max. You really learn news things everyday
Dexie recently posted Baked Chicken W/ Apricot Preserves & Onion Soup Mix
Chicken cooks faster than pork so I never really tried boiling chicken before frying. This really is my 1st time to steam then fry chicken
Oh, so yummy! I want to try this:)
Visiting for FTF- hope you can stop by..
http://myrecipecollection.info/2012/07/red-velvet-cupcake.html
i was about to ask what you’d do with the water from the steamer…lol. oo nga, pwedeng soup. would love to try this!
if only there are dressed free range chicken around here..usually kasi galing na sa big commercial farms.
thanks much for sharing and linking over at Food Friday!
maiylah recently posted Food Friday
hello there Iska! thank you for your recipes, make my life easier and pretty:) by the way, what will I do with the with the juices and water in the steamer? can I use this for soup or something?
Hi Pearl, sorry for my very late reply.
Yes you can use the stock for soup but you may need to add more water or add potatoes as it may be too salty.
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FastAlexandria recently posted FastAlexandria
Hi Iska! Trying this again, this time in Kuwait 😊
Thanks 😘