Salt and Pepper Chicken (2024)

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By Nicky Corbishley

• ▢ 60 g (1/2 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• ▢ 1 tbsp table salt
• ▢ 1 ¼ tbsp ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 tbsp Chinese five-spice
• ▢ 6 skinless chicken thigh fillets quartered
• ▢ vegetable oil for frying (around 240ml/1 cup)
• ▢ 1 onion peeled and chopped into large chunks (about 1.5-2cm across)
• ▢ 1 red chilli chopped into small pieces (I use relatively mild fresno or serrano chillies)
• ▢ 1 green chilli chopped into small pieces (I use relatively mild fresno or serrano chillies)
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves peeled and minced
• ▢ 3 spring onions (scallions) roughly chopped

• Mix together the 60g (1/2 cup) of cornflour, ¾ tbsp of the salt, 1 tbsp of the black pepper, and the 1 tbsp of Chinese five-spice.

  60 g (1/2 cup) cornflour, 1 tbsp table salt, 1 ¼ tbsp ground black pepper, 1 tbsp Chinese five-spice

• Sprinkle over the chicken thigh fillets and toss together to coat.

  6 skinless chicken thigh fillets

• Take the 240ml (1 cup) of oil, and put one tablespoon of it to one side. Add the rest of the oil to a large frying pan and heat over a high heat until hot (you can test by sticking the end of a wooden spoon or chopstick in the oil – if bubbles form around it, it’s hot enough).

  vegetable oil for frying

• Add the chicken to the oil a piece at a time (to ensure the oil doesn’t boil over). You’ll probably have to work in two batches altogether.

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• Fry for about 5-7 minutes, turning once until cooked through and golden brown all over.

• Using a set of tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate lined with kitchen paper.

• Repeat with the second batch of chicken, then turn off the heat when done.

• As soon as the second batch of chicken is cooking, heat the reserved 1 tablespoon of oil in a separate frying pan over a medium-high heat.

• Add the chopped onion, the chopped red and green chillies, the remaining ¼ tbsp of salt and the remaining ¼ tbsp of black pepper to the pan. Fry for about 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the onion starts to soften slightly.

  1 onion, 1 red chilli, 1 green chilli

• Then turn down the heat to medium and add in the 2 cloves of minced garlic and 3 chopped spring onions.

  2 garlic cloves, 3 spring onions

• Fry for a further minute, stirring often.

• By now both batches of chicken should be cooked. Add the chicken to the frying pan with onion and chillies in and toss everything together for 1 minute.

• Turn off the heat and serve.

That’s a lot of salt!

Yes – please be warned – this is a salty dish. That’s what makes it totally moreish. You could use low sodium salt if you prefer.
I tend to serve this in smaller portions as a side dish, rather than having a large portion.

Can I make it ahead?

This recipe tastes best when cooked and eaten right away. That’s when you’ll retain the most crunch in the chicken coating.

However, it does still taste great reheated. Cook the whole recipe, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a day.

Reheat in a frying pan over a medium-high heat with a tablespoon of oil, turning regularly, until the chicken is piping hot throughout. This should take about 5-6 minutes.

Ingredient swaps

• Swap chillies for bell peppers for a non-spicy finish or for hotter chillies – such as Thai chillies – for a hotter finish.
• Swap the chicken for pork if you like. Pork loin steak, sliced into strips works best.

How to scale up and scale down this recipe

You can double or half the recipe, sticking to the same ratios of ingredients – EXCEPT for the oil for frying the chicken.
Stick with 1 cup of oil whether you’re halving or doubling the recipe.

• If you’re halfing the recipe, you can fry the chicken in one batch in the oil.
• If you’re doubling the recipe, this will likely need to be done in 3 or 4 batches. 1 cup of oil should still be plenty to fry all of the batches.

Nutritional information is approximate and is per serving.
I’ve estimated that 1/3 of the oil will be absorbed during the frying of the chicken.