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The Fried Chicken 100 · make it at home

Hawaiian mochiko chicken

Overnight marinade, 30 min · 4, with rice and mac salad

Hawaii's plate-lunch fried chicken, from the islands' Japanese delis: boneless thigh marinated in a sweet-salty batter made with mochiko (sweet rice flour), shallow-fried until crackly and chewy at the edges.

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The real one

You need

• 900 g (2 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm (1 1/2 in) pieces
• Batter-marinade: 50 g (1/3 cup) mochiko sweet rice flour, 30 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch, 3 tbsp sugar, 4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 eggs beaten, 3 garlic cloves grated, 1 tsp grated ginger, 2 scallions finely sliced, 1 tsp fine salt
• Oil for shallow frying, about 1 cm (1/2 in) deep in a large skillet
• To serve: steamed rice, macaroni salad, lemon wedges

How to make it

1. Marinate (overnight): Whisk the mochiko, cornstarch, sugar, soy, eggs, garlic, ginger, scallions and salt into a thick batter. Stir in the chicken, cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 4 hours).
2. Heat (5 min): Heat 1 cm (1/2 in) oil in a large heavy skillet to 170°C (340°F).
3. Fry (6 to 8 min a batch): Lay the pieces in one by one, without crowding. Fry 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden brown and crisp; the sugar browns fast, so lower the heat if they darken before they're cooked (74°C / 165°F inside).
4. Drain (2 min): Drain on a rack and salt lightly.
5. Serve: As a plate lunch, with two scoops of rice, a scoop of mac salad and lemon.

Tips

• Mochiko is sold as Koda Farms Mochiko or in Japanese grocers; it's naturally gluten free (use tamari to keep the whole dish gluten free).
• Nori chicken: wrap each piece in a strip of nori before frying.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.