Published: March 19, 2021 32 Comments

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken aka 鹽酥雞, Yansu Ji or Salted Crispy Chicken

This Taiwanese popcorn chicken recipe is a flavorful fried chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, 5-spice and white pepper before being deep fried.

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A plate with Taiwanese popcorn chicken on it.

If you’ve never had Taiwanese popcorn chicken, known as Yansu Ji (literally translated to salted crispy chicken), it’s a super flavorful fried chicken. Unlike American fried chicken where the flavoring mostly comes from the coating, or Korean fried chicken where the flavoring comes from the sauce, Taiwanese fried chicken starts with a umami rich soy sauce base marinade that permeates the meat of the chicken. In that way, it’s similar to Japanese Karaage, though the Taiwanese version is not served with any sort of dipping sauce, but instead sprinkled with salt, white pepper and a touch of five-spice as well as garnished with fried Thai basil leaves.

It’s a typical street food (and trust me when I tell you the Taiwanese love their street food) eaten by everyone in Taiwan. One bite of it and I immediately thought to myself, this is what Taiwan taste like.

A hand reaching for a piece of Taiwanese popcorn chicken on a plate piled with the chicken.

What is Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken?

Taiwanese Popcorn chicken is marinated and fried pieces of chicken, often found in cafes, boba shops or night markets in Taiwan. It’s similar to Japanese karaage, as it is marinated before being dipped in an egg wash and a starch coating before frying.

Unlike karaage though, the Taiwanese-style fried chicken is pulled from the fryer, dusted with a seasoning, usually a mix of white pepper and five spice, and then served immediately, whereas Japanese karaage is often served with mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon.

How do you make Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken?

Making Taiwanese popcorn chicken is easier than it sounds. Prep the boneless skinless chicken thighs by cutting them into 2-inch pieces.

Chicken in a bowl of soy sauce marinade.

Then make a marinade, using a lot of garlic (a whole head!), ginger, green onions, mirin (a sweet rice wine), a little bit of sweet potato starch, five-spice, white pepper and cayenne pepper or Sichuan peppercorns. Combine and let the chicken marinade for 30 minutes or overnight.

Once the marinade has done it’s magic, heat up some oil, dip the chicken in an egg and water mixture, then coat in sweet potato starch, and fry it up! Season with some salt, five-spice, and white pepper then garnish with a few fried Thai basil leaves and serve.

A piece of Taiwanese popcorn chicken being pulled out of hot oil with tongs.

What is sweet potato starch

Traditional Taiwanese popcorn chicken is fried in sweet potato starch. This gives the chicken a crisp coating that is one of the signatures of the dish. Some recipes will have you using tapioca starch instead, but when I tested that out, I found the chicken to be less crisp. After testing recipes with tapioca starch, regular potato starch and cornstarch, I found the cornstarch to be the closest in texture and crunch to the traditional sweet potato starch.

So if you can’t find sweet potato starch, available online (affiliate link) and in well-stocked Asian market, use the same amount of cornstarch. The chicken won’t be quite as crisp as if you had used the sweet potato starch but it will still be pretty amazing.

What is Thai Basil

Taiwanese popcorn chicken is often served with fried Thai basil leaves as well. These fried basil leaves not only add a pop of green color to the dish but help perfume the popcorn slightly with a touch of anise.

Thai basil is a variety of basil that comes from Southeast Asia. It has thinner, pointy and stiffer leaves than traditional basil that you will find in most grocery stores. If you can’t find Thai basil, you can swap out regular basil leaves, or just omit them from the recipe. Don’t try to substitute dried basil in this recipe. You need fresh basil leaves to fry.

A pile of Taiwanese popcorn chicken on a oval blue plate.

What is Five Spice?

Five Spice is a Chinese blend of spices that is often used in Taiwanese and Chinese dishes. It is made up of five (or more) different spices which often correspond to the five different Chinese elements, sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami/savoriness. The most common ingredients you’ll find in five spice blends include star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel seeds. Other ingredients you can sometimes find in the blend contain ginger, turmeric, cardamom, orange peel or galangal.

You can find five-spice in almost any Asian grocery store as well as online (affiliate link). There are also homemade five-spice recipes online on how to make your own blend if you wish.

What is mirin?

Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine. You can find it online (affiliate link) and in Asian markets. But if you don’t have mirin or don’t feel like buying it, swap out the same amount of dry sherry or white wine and add ½ teaspoon of white sugar as well.

Just fried Taiwanese fried chicken on a wire rack draining, with tongs next to the pieces.

How do you store leftovers?

Like all fried chicken, Taiwanese popcorn chicken is best eaten the day it’s made. But if you have leftovers, store the chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

To heat up leftovers, place the chicken on a baking sheet and heat in a 350°F oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes or until the chicken is heated through. I don’t recommend using the microwave to heat up the chicken, as it will result in soggy and tough popcorn chicken.

If you like this Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken recipe, check out some of my other Asian recipes:

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken. Photo and recipe by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love.

[Note: this recipe was original published on Feb 15, 2015, but has been updated with recipe and substitution notes, as well as new images on March 19, 2021]

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