How to Make Restaurant-Quality Salted Fried Chicken

Prepare the Ingredients

Rub the chicken with coarse salt and ginger wine to clean and deodorize it, then rinse and let it drain.

Next, cut the chicken into square pieces about the size of a matchbox. Avoid cutting the pieces too small, as the chicken may dry out during cooking, resulting in less flavorful meat.

Leave the skin on the shallots and ginger, rinse them well, then crush them. Wash the lime leaves, then thinly slice them to fry until crispy, which will enhance the flavor of the salted fried chicken.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chili peppers, slice them into thin strips, and soak them in a bowl of water. These chili strips will be used to garnish the dish, adding a touch of visual appeal.

Peel off the tough outer layers of the lemongrass, wash it thoroughly. Take two-thirds of the lemongrass, crush it, and cut it into 2-3cm long pieces. Thinly slice the remaining lemongrass at a diagonal, which will also be fried to a golden crisp like the lime leaves.

Cook the Chicken

To ensure the salted fried chicken is fragrant, flavorful, and has tender, juicy meat, it is important to briefly boil (blanch) the chicken with lemongrass, shallots, and ginger. This process, known as 'tau' in Vietnamese, is a method of cooking ingredients with added spices to enhance their flavor, ensuring the chicken remains tender and juicy rather than drying out from direct frying.

Here’s how to blanch the chicken:

Add the crushed shallots, lemongrass, and ginger to a pot, then pour in 70ml of honey, 1.5 liters of water, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of MSG. Stir well and bring this mixture to a boil.

Once the water is boiling, add the chicken pieces to blanch. Ensure there’s enough water to submerge the chicken completely, allowing the chicken to absorb the color and flavor evenly.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat and continue cooking for about 15 minutes until the chicken begins to separate from the bones. Remove the chicken and let it drain.

The next step is to marinate the chicken with 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of MSG, ground pepper, and 1 egg yolk.

Prepare the Salted Powder

To make the salted powder, you’ll need the following ingredients: 22g dried shrimp, 95g instant rice porridge (from an instant porridge pack), 50g sticky rice, 22g peeled mung beans, 25g coarse salt, 10-15g whole peppercorns.

You can substitute the instant rice porridge with prawn crackers, but prawn crackers contain oil, which may cause the salted powder to become greasy if stored for too long.

Toast each ingredient (except the instant porridge pack) in a dry pan. Remember, you’re only toasting them to remove moisture and enhance the aroma; you don’t need to toast them until golden.

Once toasted, grind all the ingredients into a fine powder, but not too fine, and then mix them well together. With the quantities listed, you should be able to produce over 200g of salted powder.

If you have leftover salted powder, store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for future use in other salted dishes, such as salted ribs, salted crab, or salted chicken cartilage.

Make the Salted Fried Chicken

With all the ingredients prepared, you can now start making the salted fried chicken. First, add a generous amount of oil to a pan and drop in the sliced lemongrass while the oil is still cold. Fry over medium heat until the lemongrass turns golden, then remove and drain on paper towels. Quickly fry the lime leaves in the hot oil for about 10 seconds, then remove them as well.

Next, coat the chicken pieces evenly with crispy frying flour before frying. If you have lion powder, add a small amount to enhance the color and aroma.

Heat the oil, then fry the chicken.

Fry until the chicken turns golden and feels firm when pressed with chopsticks, then remove and drain on paper towels.

Place the chicken in a bowl, sprinkle the salted powder evenly over it, and toss the chicken to coat it thoroughly. Finally, arrange the salted fried chicken on a plate, topping it with the fried lemongrass and crispy lime leaves to complete the dish.