Kevin Cooks: Sichuan Karaage
In 2020, as the world grappled with a surge of a novel coronavirus (colloquially named COVID-19), chef Eric Huang created something completely new for the palate: Sichuan spiced fried chicken. A former chef at famed three Michelin star restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, Eric Huang found himself escaping the world of fine dining and back into his family owned restaurant, Peking House, in Queens, NY. There he created something he always dreamed of doing and decided to share it with the rest of the world. What started as an individually run, ‘shanty’ delivery service soon became a ‘legitimate’ restaurant with a brick and mortar location along with several pop-ups and an expanding menu.
I was fortunate enough to try it at one of the limited-time pop-up locations in Los Angeles. Knowing that my opportunities to have it would be limited, I tasked myself with the goal of making it myself with my own twist. In this recipe, I make Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) with chef Eric Huang’s Peking House seasoning/rub.
Eleven Madison Park - named “best restaurant” in the world in 2017.
My experience with this place is funny. I’ve never eaten there obviously - my yearly income is negative $70,000. But, the first time I heard about this place was from an attending I met. I was looking for suggestions for restaurants to try in NYC. I was hoping for those hole-in-the-wall experiences, like the best steamed rice rolls or best dim-sum restaurants. I prefaced this too. The attending told me I had to go to Eleven Madison Park because it was his favorite restaurant ever. Without an extra thought, I typed it into my map and I decided to go after work one day. I rode the subway down. Got off at my stop. I enter through a large revolving door. I began to realize this might be too expensive for me. Feeling judged by the patrons and workers, I immediately exit the building and google the restaurant to find out its caliber and cost. The next day, I told the attending about this. He told me to go back when my parents come to town.
Chef Eric Huang
Peking House Sichuan Fried Chicken
Sichuan Karaage Chicken with Cilantro Ranch
With a side of Din Tai Fung fried rice and cold spicy asian cucumber salad
Ingredients
Boneless chicken thighs cut up into large chunks
Seasoning:
3 parts salt
1 part MSG
1 part sugar
Marinade:
Buttermilk
1/2 parts seasoning (MSG, sugar, salt mix)
1 1/2 parts flour
1 1/2 parts cornstarch
1/2 parts onion powder
1/2 parts garlic powder
Dredge:
3 tablespoons of seasoning
Equal flour:cornstarch
Rub:
200g Tianjin Chilis
75g Sichuan peppercorn
Duck fat
1.5 tablespoon seasoning powder
Directions:
Start by preparing your seasoning. This involves creating a blend of MSG, salt, and sugar above. Make a lot of it because you can use it for other things!
Chop up the chicken thigh into large chunks.
I found that when I first made it, I cut the chicken too small. I was going for the classic Karaage/popcorn chicken sized pieces. However, the ratio of the crunchy crust to the meat of the chicken was too large (too much crust). One way this was fixed was just cutting large bites of chicken. It led to a better flavor and texture.
Create your marinade and add the large chunks of chicken thigh to it. Let it marinade for at least 6 hours and up to 48 hours.
The acidity of the buttermilk can help tenderize the chicken and keep it moist after cooking.
While that is marinading you can prepare your rub. This includes toasting some Tianjin chilis (or Sichuan chilis) and then blending them into a powder. If you can buy them already in powder form (like I did) great! For the Sichuan peppers, add them to a heated pan and just toast them until they become aromatic. I stopped when I started seeing a little bit of smoke rising from the pan whenever I tossed it. After they are done toasting, blend them until they become a powder. Combine the Sichuan powder, Tianjin chili powder, and the seasoning powder.
Duck fat comes later
Prepare your dredge.
Heat a fryer or large pan or something with around 3 inches of oil. Wait until it reaches a temperature of around 350 degrees.
I used canola oil. You can use peanut oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil.
Our goal is to get it to around 350 degrees so you want an oil with a higher smoking point. Once you add the chicken, it really drops the temperature of the oil, which is ideal for cooking it at around 325 degrees which is our final goal.
Add the marinaded chicken into the dredge and make sure it’s all coated.
Add the coated chicken into the fryer. Let it fry for about 3-4 minutes and then flip the chicken and continue frying for another 3-4 minutes. Once it turns into a light golden color, set it aside on a plate/rack for 5 minutes (this allows the chicken to cook internally while not overcooking the outside).
After 5 minutes of rest or more, add the chicken back to the fryer for another 2-3 minutes.
Double frying the chicken lets the crust get extra crispy. Just don’t burn it…
Heat the duck fat in a separate pot. Just make the duck fat warm (not frying temperature). Add your rub powder into the pot and mix it until the oil and the seasoning look well combined. Dip your fried chicken into the pot and coat it with the duck fat + rub seasoning. Enjoy!
First Fry Color
Second fry color
