Servings: 4

For the chicken

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Kosher salt for seasoning, plus 1 tablespoon

Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

2 cups cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the sauce (makes 11/3 cups):

1/4 cup chili-garlic sauce, such as Huy Fong brand

¼ cup soy sauce

¾ cup kecap manis (a Malaysian sweet soy sauce, available at Asian grocers or online, or mix two parts hoisin sauce with one part soy sauce)

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Note: Philadelphia chef Michael Solomonov, a James Beard Award winner, sells a Korean-style fried chicken that has a thin, shell-like coating and spicy-sweet sauce made with Malaysian kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). If you can’t find kecap manis, just mix two parts hoisin sauce to one part soy sauce.


To make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, kecap manis, and vinegar.

Fill a large (at least 8-quart) pot halfway with oil and heat to 300 degrees. Set a baking rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and flour and 1 tablespoon salt, then whisk in 1¾ cups water to make a crepe-like batter, adding water by the tablespoonful if the batter feels too thick. Dip the chicken pieces in the batter, shaking off the excess, and fry in batches until the chicken is golden, 12 to 13 minutes.

Twice-fry the chicken: Drain the chicken on the prepared rack and increase the oil temperature to 350 degrees. Fry the chicken until it is crisp and the color deepens, an additional 5 minutes. Let the chicken cool 2 to 3 minutes on the rack, then coat the chicken liberally with sauce (or serve with sauce on the side).

Michael Solomonov, Federal Donuts

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