"Fry-Roast Chicken"

Easy and delicious. We loved this recipe so much, we made it twice in a row!

It’s not from one of our cookbooks, just a Chinese cooking YouTube channel. I like their content a lot (watch on 1.5x to make narration more bearable). It’s very educational, maybe verging on obnoxious?, but still overall still making Chinese food more accessible to the masses, I believe.

This is one of the first of their recipes I’ve bothered making, because it is pantry friendly and quarantine friendly - I had all the ingredients in my fridge before I even saw the video, and it’s “western grocery store friendly” - no obscure Asian ingredients.

I don’t like to format my written recipes the same way as this guy, so I’ll write it out for myself.

Quick and healthy meal, easy to prepare with this recipe

Leftover Asian pancake batter, charred scallion vinaigrette, lettuce, all prepared while chicken was marinating.

Kale cooked in leftover chicken liquid

Shallot marmalade (?? Noah??)

And a diet coke, for morale

煎焗鸡 (Pretty generic but delicious Chinese stir-fried chicken)

1. In a bowl, marinate for 15 minutes:

   • 600g chicken leg/thigh, chopped on the bone, Asian style

   • 3/4 tsp salt

   • 1/2 tsp chicken powder (I used a tiny dab chicken bouillon paste)

   • 1/8 tsp sugar (not too much, chicken will burn)

   • 1/8 tsp MSG (super optional)

   • 1/4 tsp white pepper

   • 1 tsp cornstarch

   • 1 tsp soy sauce

   • 1 tsp chili oil

   • 1 Tbsp neutral oil

2. Fry chicken in a hot skillet for a minute or so, until it begins to brown.

3. Flip the chicken over, lower the heat, put a lid on, and cook chicken through (3ish minutes, depending on the size)

4. Uncover - some oil and juice should have rendered from the chicken. Crank the heat back up again.

5. Add:

   • 1-inch ginger, sliced thinly

   • 2 cloves garlic

6. Cook until other side is browned enough, then add:

   • 5 scallion whites, chopped into 1-in pieces (bisect the thick ones too)

   • like 1 small bell pepper, cubed

   • handful of chunked white onion

7. Begin stirring and cooking the vegetables to desired doneness, 1-2 minutes.

8. Season more with soy sauce and pepper as desired.

It really reminds me of the kind of dishes I’d order in a half-authentic type of restaurant, and I crave this kind of food all the time. It’s messy, it’s homey, and it tastes of classic Chinese flavors. Will be making this a lot in the future.

Better browning on day 1

Marinating chicken legs

No need to fuss over knife work

Cooked veg longer on day 2

Notes:

• They say you can just use boneless thigh, but where’s the fun in that? The best part of this kind of dish is gnawing the chicken off the bone. And I love cartilage. This makes the skin and cartilage as delicious as the meat itself.

• You don’t need oil at first, esp in a nonstick pan. The marinade has oil, and more fat and liquid will render from the chicken when you cover & cook. But use judgement - if it’s not searing well, add some oil. If it’s looking sticky, add a touch of water and scrape so it doesn’t burn.

• I use a stainless steel skillet and after taking the chicken out, I’ve been deglazing the pan and steaming some hearty greens like kale and chard in the leftover fond. Lazy side dish.