Fried Chicken Recipe from Eric Huang

In this recipe-video we are recreating Eric Huang's Pecking house crispy & spicy fried chicken recipe. Which became a hit during the pandemic in NYC. What makes this recipe so good is the paste he uses to marinate the chicken, the spicy sauce to go over the top and to round it all up a homemade ranch dipping sauce. Amazing!

https://youtu.be/w2CSV1qvEBw

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Fried Chicken Recipe from Eric Huang

Yield: 4-6

Author: Traditional, but not

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 6 HourTotal time: 7 H & 30 M

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 whole chicken
• 4 L Neutral oil for frying (depending how big your pot or deep-fryer is you will need less or more oil)
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp MSG

Flour Dredge/Paste

• 500 ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp of the seasoning mix
• 1 Tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp Thai ginger powder (not in the original recipe)
• 5-6 Tbsp AP flour

Flour mix

• 250 g Ap flour
• 125 g corn starch
• 125 g potato starch
• 2 Tbsp of the seasoning mix

Spicy Hot Sauce - ingredients measurements to taste

• 5-6 dried red chillis
• 85 g Szechuan pepper
• 1 Tbsp Seasoning mix
• 1 - 2 Tbsp vinegar powder
• 1 - 2 Tbsp sugar
• 250 ml duck fat

Ranch Style Dipping Sauce

• bunch of mint
• bunch of coriander
• bunch of parsley
• bunch of dill
• 300 ml neutral oil
• 1 tsp Dijjon mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp MSG
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• couple pinches of vinegar powder
• 125 ml buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp sour cream

Instructions

1. Start by cutting the chicken into 10 pieces leaving the skin on. Then make the seasoning mix by combining salt, sugar and MSG. Next is the flour dredge or paste to marinate chicken in. To do this you combine buttermilk, mustard, seasoning mix, Chinese 5 spice powder, onion powder, garlic powder, Thai ginger powder and flour in a bowl. You looking for the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Then it is time to marinate the chicken in the dredge. Make sure you get ever part of the chicken and not destroy the skin. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator or at least 6 hours.
2. For the spicy hot sauce to go over the top of the chicken blitz up the dried red chili and the Szechuan pepper in a blender and warm up the duck fat to melt it. In a bowl combine chilies/pepper mix, seasoning mix, vinegar powder and sugar, then add the warm duck fat. Set aside.
3. Next step in cooking the chicken is to combine all ingredients for the flour mix and pre-heat the deep fryer to 320°F. Then bread your chicken with the flour mix and make sure to it has a lot of gnarly bits because these will make it extra crispy. Then fry the chicken the first time and use a thermometer to check the temperature. It can take up to 20 minutes for some of the bigger pieces to fry and should have a internal temperature of 163°F. Then let the chicken rest on a rack while we make the dipping sauce.
4. For the ranch style dipping sauce start by making a herb oil. For this blanch the herbs in hot water for 15 - 20 seconds. Then transfer them to an ice bath to keep the bright color. Next dry the herbs between some paper towel. Once dry roughly chop them up and add them to a stick-blender container with the neutral oil and blend to combine. Then strain the mixture through a strainer to separate the pulp from the oil. Reserve the pulp for later. Next make a mayonnaise with the herb oil. For this you combine most of the herb oil (set a small amount aside) with the egg, 2 tablespoons of the pulp, mustard, salt, MSG, lemon juice and vinegar powder in a tall container and use a stick blender to make the mayonnaise by slowly pulling it up. To finish the ranch style dipping sauce combine buttermilk, sour cream and 2 tablespoons of the herb-mayo to a bowl and mix it. For more seasoning add some of the reserved herb oil, salt and vinegar powder.
5. Lastly you fry the chicken one more time for 3-5 minutes to heat it up again and get that extra crips. Then spoon the spicy hot sauce over the top and your ready to enjoy some very delicious crispy spicy chicken!