Chinese chicken nuggets just like they sell at the restaurant only much cheaper!
Who doesn’t love the appetizers in a Chinese restaurant or take out? Especially the chicken nuggets and popcorn shrimp.
Trouble is, they are pretty pricy. Why pay that when you can make them better and cheaper at home?
These chicken nuggets are very easy to make. OK, batter dipping them is a bit messy, but it’s oh-so worth it. Thankfully, the batter contains no eggs so cleaning up your hands, messy as they’ll get, is pretty easy–the batter will just disappear under warm running water.
I suggest frying these nuggets in a wok or a basket-less deep fryer (like a Fry Daddy). I used my pro fryer with the mesh basket and the nuggets pretty much stuck to the basket and were a pain to dislodge–you will have no such trouble in a wok!
The batter, which can also be used on shrimp, is stupidly easy and with few ingredients. The key is you must let this batter sit for at least 30 minutes so the baking powder does it’s magic. The batter is so delicious, it’s even good by itself. I was picking the stuck-on batter off the wire basket once it was cool enough and truth be told, I could have made a meal out of that fried batter. I was thinking I was a massive slob doing that but got over it quickly because the stuff was delicious!!!
These are perfect dipped in duck sauce or my pot sticker dipping sauce which is in step 7 of the linked recipe.
- 2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 lb total)
- 5 tbs cornstarch
- ½ tsp white pepper
- oil for frying--DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL (see NOTES)
- Batter:
- ½ cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp dark sesame oil
- ½ cup + 1 tbs water
- Mix all batter ingredients in a small bowl; let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Pour enough oil into a wok or dutch oven so you have 2-inches of oil in the pan measured up the side of the pan.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees F.
- Place cornstarch and white pepper in a plastic bag; shake to mix.
- Add chicken to this bag and toss to coat the chicken with the cornstarch mixture.
- Remove half the chicken and place it in the bowl with the batter; coat well. You will have to fry in 2 shifts (or more depending on the size of your pan) because of the amount of chicken.
- Place chicken piece by piece into the hot oil.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes. Repeat with remaining chicken
- Cooked chicken may be kept warm in a 200 degree F oven (see NOTES)
- Chicken will serve 4 as a main, 8 as an appetizer
Place cooked chicken on a wire cooling rack set in a large baking sheet. Using paper towels will make this soggy. Using a rack so air can circulate keeps fried foods crispy.
Yum
Thank you Judith – sounds good and I’d love it now if someone made it for me.
LOL!!! That’s the way I feel lots of times too!!!
I’ve never seen this at a Chinese restaurant — it looks like a great snack!
They sell it in my local take-out. I tried them because I never saw them either…I doubt whether they’re authentic though. But they are totally delicious.