This Taiwanese salt and pepper chicken recipe uses minimal oil to create the most scrumptious result. These chicken bites are super crispy, juicy, and bursting with flavor. {Gluten-Free}
Taiwan, a small, sweet-potato-shaped island off the east coast of the China mainland, is world-famous for its incredible street food scene. Salt’n’Pepper Chicken (pronounced Yán Sū Jī in Mandarin) is one of Taiwanese people’s favorite night market munchies, normally eaten out of a basket or paper bag. It’s sort of like popcorn chicken, made from bite-size tender breast or thigh cuts with a crunchy coating seasoned with zesty and refreshing ginger and five-spice. It’s like a party on your palate!
Unfortunately, constantly eating deep-fried street snacks isn’t so good for the waistline. Plus, it always makes a mess in the kitchen and produces a ton of leftover oil. So I’ve come up with a recipe that avoids the deep-frying method and drastically reduces the calorie count. The look of the final product might not be as perfect as the deep-fried version, but the flavor is out of this world! You’ll get the same crispy result using a large skillet at high temperature and a fraction of the oil, allowing you to indulge in your night market cravings guilt-free.
Cooking notes
1. The marinade
The marinade is the highlight of the recipe. It uses brown sugar, fresh ginger and garlic to impart a rich taste to the chicken. Ideally, marinating in the fridge overnight will help the chicken develop a deeper flavor. But if you’re short on time, you can let the chicken marinate at room temperature for half an hour, and the result will be great, as well.
3. The batter
The simple mix of egg and cornstarch does its magic. Not only does it create crispy chicken, but the cooked coating also holds well and stays crispy even after you chill the chicken for a while. When you mix the batter for the shallow fry, keep in mind that the batter should look a bit dry and not runny.
On the other hand, if you do prefer to deep fry the chicken, the batter works just as great.
4. How to shallow fry
I’ve tried shallow frying with a nonstick pan and a carbon steel pan. They both work very well.
Different from deep-frying, shallow frying requires you to flip the chicken to sear both sides properly and develop the crispy coating.
Also, keep in mind that cooking time varies quite a bit depending on the pan and your stove. If you’re using a light nonstick pan and an electric stove, it will take longer to brown and cook the chicken through. When using a heavy-duty pan (such as a cast iron or carbon steel pan) with a powerful gas stove, the cooking time might be cut in half. Always keep an eye on the bottom of the chicken, and cook it according to your own observations.
5. Spice mix
I made more spice mix than you might use in the recipe, so you can serve some on the side to adjust the flavor based on personal preference.
6. No basil? no problem
The authentic Taiwanese-style salt and pepper chicken uses fried crispy basil leaves to add another flavor dimension to the dish. But it does require some extra effort to cook. I’ve found that dried nori sheets have a similar texture and an equally interesting taste. You can simply shred some nori and add it to the chicken and skip frying the basil.
You can use the large nori sheets that are made for sushi rolls, or the small snack size ones that are sold in grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s.
How to cook salt and pepper chicken video
I recorded a short video to show you how easy it is to cook this dish. Find more videos to learn Chinese cooking on my YouTube channel!
More delicious appetizer recipes
- Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp
- Beef Satay
- Baked Crispy Tofu Nuggets
- Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Mun Pla)
- Cheesy Shrimp Baked Spring Rolls
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Salt and Pepper Chicken Without Deep-Frying (椒盐鸡)
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450 grams) boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts) , cut to 1-inch (2-cm) pieces
- 1 egg , beaten
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 small batch basil (or nori sheets) (*Footnote 1)
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic , finely grated
- 2 teaspoons ginger , finely grated
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar (or regular sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Spice Mix
- 2 teaspoons white pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar (or regular sugar)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
Instructions
- Combine the chicken and the marinade ingredients in a big bowl. Mix well. Marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to overnight in the fridge.
- Combine the ingredients for the spice mix in a small bowl and stir to mix well. Note, this recipe prepares more spice mix than you might use, so you can adjust the seasoning according to your preference.
- When you’re ready to cook, add the beaten egg into the bowl with the chicken. Stir to mix well. Add the cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken, until it forms an uneven coating with a little dry cornstarch left unattached. The batter should be quite dry and not very runny.
- Add the oil to a large skillet (nonstick or carbon steel), just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken one piece at a time using a pair of chopsticks or tongs. Turn to medium heat if the pan starts to smoke too much.
- Cook the chicken until the bottom turns golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip to brown the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, you can deep-fry the chicken with more oil at 350 F (176 C) until golden brown.) Transfer chicken to a large plate and remove the pan from the stove to let it cool a bit.
- Your pan should still have a thin layer of oil remaining in it. If not, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Heat over medium heat. Spread the basil leaves. Cook the bottom side for 30 seconds. Flip to cook the other side until crispy. Transfer the basil leaves to a large plate to cool.
- While the chicken is still hot, sprinkle about half of the spice mix over the chicken and gently toss it with a pair of tongs. Taste the chicken. Add more spice mix if needed. Add the cooked basil leaves and toss again.
- Serve as an appetizer.
- You can store the leftover chicken in a sealed container in the fridge. To reheat the chicken, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Heat the chicken for 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through.
Notes
- The crispy basil leaves add another flavor dimension to the dish, but it does require some extra effort to cook them. I’ve found that dried nori sheets have a similar texture and equally interesting taste. You can simply shred some nori and add it to the chicken to skip frying the basil.
YUM! We marinated the chicken for about two hours and then prepared this in the air fryer in a couple of batches. Really fantastic flavor and crunchy exterior!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! I love salt and pepper chicken but never imagine I would be making this myself. I’m glad that this is a non-deep-fried version. I just don’t want to have to deal with so much oil at home.
This is really tasty.
This recipe was a huge hit between me and my husband! We love love love popcorn chicken, but I appreciate this recipe because I know exactly what I’m putting into my food. We pretty much followed your instructions with a few minor changes:
1. Used avocado oil because that’s the only oil we use in our household
3. Used garlic salt instead of salt for the marinade, but used salt for the spice mix
2. Used ground ginger powder because we didn’t have fresh grated ginger
3. Air fried after shallow frying for that extra crispness
I was super skeptical about the spices, but it turned out way more delicious than I expected to the point where we wanted more to coat our chicken! We have a google doc for favorite meal ideas and my husband told me to add this one to the list!
Very well done and highly recommend!!
This is what I’ll cook tomorrow! Do you think I can skip the sugar? Health reasons.
Sorry just saw this and maybe it’s too late. I definitely recommend the sugar since it adds great taste to the chicken. You can reduce the marinade sugar to 1 teaspoon and skip the sugar in the spice mix if needed.
This recipe looks great and so easy! Definitely going to try this in the next week. Thank you for sharing!
Just made it and can confirm it’s delicious. Thank you
Super delish!! My boyfriend told me he missed the salt and pepper chicken from a Chinese restaurant that he used to go to when he was young. So, I surprised him by making it myself with this recipe. Despite this recipe is obviously not the same as he remembers, this is by far his absolute favorite! Whenever we go to restaurants now he is sometimes curious and still orders it. But he always tells me my salt and pepper chicken is the best! 😉 Thanks for this great recipe!
Could you make this in an air fryer? Anyone tried this? Hanks!
I’ve never tried it in the air fryer but it should work. The batter is on the stickier side, so you might need to add more cornstarch (or a bit flour) so the batter doesn’t fall through the basket. Also you should spray the chicken with a bit oil before air frying.
Great! Thanks for the tips, Maggie! This is my FAVORITE website for real Chinese recipes. I’m hoping there’ll be an Omnivores Cookbook cookbook someday! 谢谢你!
Celebration food. So delicious. I love all of your recipes. Thank you for making this accessible for home cooks!
Can I use air fryer to air fry instead of oil fry?
I haven’t tried out the air fryer yet but I think you can. If the batter is a bit wet, you can mix in more cornstarch so it’s not so runny in the air fryer.
Can I make this in an airfryer? If so, what temperature and time?
This recipe is not developed for air fryer and I’m afraid the wet batter won’t hold up.
Can you air fry the chicken?
I just posted an air fryer version of this recipe: https://omnivorescookbook.com/air-fryer-salt-and-pepper-chicken/
The batter is slightly changed to adapt air fryer. Happy cooking!
Would love to try this recipe. Can I use an air fryer instead of deep frying in oil?
Yes! I have an air fryer version recipe here: https://omnivorescookbook.com/air-fryer-salt-and-pepper-chicken/
A very flavorful combination that I’ll be adding to my chicken recipe rotation! My local grocery only had wilted, sad-looking basil, so I added some dried basil to the spice mix. It tastes amazing and I made enough to have for lunch throughout the week. Thanks for sharing!
This was so tasty and easy. Served it for dinner with steamed veg and rice and everyone wanted seconds. It did take about 4 batches if cooking as it didn’t all fit in my skillet
It’s a great snack! My air fryer is too small to do all the chicken at once so the cooking goes slow. (Why do they make air fryer baskets deep instead of wide?)
Is the basil in the recipe thai basil? I see that someone in the comments used fried lime leaves instead.
I used regular basil. I think Thai basil should work well as well. I’ve not tried it with fried lime leaves yet.
Omg! This recipe is heaven! So easy and quick to make. The flavours are insane. Will be making a double batch next time!! I did the chicken in my air fryer and it turned out perfect.