Chicken-Fried Chicken Recipe with Peanut Soy

Chicken-fried chicken with peanut soy

Name: Chicken-fried chicken with peanut soy
Total time: 2 h
Yield: serves 2
Ingredients: sea salt 120g; red chillies 4; garlic 6 cloves; coriander a small bunch, plus extra to serve; lemongrass 2 sticks, finely chopped; peanut oil 100ml; chicken legs 2 whole; duck fat 300g jar; lemon ½, wedged to serve; coriander leaves to serve; rice vinegar 120ml; caster sugar 3 tbsp; lemon ½, zested; cucumber 1, finely sliced; roasted peanuts (not salted) 75g; kecap manis 125ml (see notes below); dried chilli flakes a pinch

2 hours + marinating overnight + chilling
serves 2
A little effort

Check out this flavour-packed crispy chicken with sticky peanut sauce from Scott Hallsworth's Asian restaurant, Freak Scene in Soho. The team at Freak Scene fry the chicken in rendered chicken fat, but duck fat is easier to get hold of and will give you a similar result

June 22, 2018 at 5:12 pm

Ingredients

sea salt 120g
red chillies 4
garlic 6 cloves
coriander a small bunch, plus extra to serve
lemongrass 2 sticks, finely chopped
peanut oil 100ml
chicken legs 2 whole
duck fat 300g jar
lemon ½, wedged to serve
coriander leaves to serve

CUCUMBER PICKLES

rice vinegar 120ml
caster sugar 3 tbsp
lemon ½, zested
cucumber 1, finely sliced

PEANUT SOY

roasted peanuts (not salted) 75g
kecap manis 125ml (see notes below)
dried chilli flakes a pinch

Method

Step 1

Put the salt, chillies, garlic, coriander, lemongrass and peanut oil into a food processor and whizz to a purée. Put the chicken into a container and pour over the salt mixture, rubbing it in well. Cover and chill overnight.
Step 2

Rinse the marinade off the chicken and pat really dry with kitchen paper. Put the chicken legs into a small pan so that they fit really snugly and add enough duck fat to completely cover the chicken. Use a thermometer to bring the fat up to 90C and keep it there, cooking gently for 1½ hours until very tender. Remove from the fat, cool and chill until completely cold. Allow the duck fat to cool completely then push through a fine sieve and reserve for later.
Step 3

Warm the rice vinegar, sugar, lemon zest and 1 tbsp salt in a pan until the sugar and salt has dissolved, then cool. Put the cucumber slices into a bowl and pour over the pickling liquid. Leave for 30 minutes before draining to serve.
Step 4

For the peanut soy, finely chop the peanuts, then mix with the kecap manis and dried chilli flakes.
Step 5

Fill a pan no more than ¹/3 full with the reserved duck fat and heat to 160C or until a cube of bread browns in 45 seconds. Fry the chicken legs, one at a time, for 5 minutes or until deeply golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the other.
Step 6

Spoon a pool of peanut soy onto each plate, put a chicken leg on top with a generous pile of cucumbers, a lemon wedge and some coriander leaves.