Lets make the most delicious salt and pepper chicken nuggets with one secret ingredient that nobody could’ve figured out. This chicken nuggets recipe is the closest replica of all Chinese restaurants’ recipes. If you love Chinese food, you definitely know this famous dish. And I swear the moment I figure out the secret ingredient that make it is as it is, I almost burst into tear. Ok, it was not like that, but a little exaggerating is totally needed for this amazing salt and pepper chicken nuggets recipe.
There are two different components that make this salt and pepper recipe taste amazing.
- The right amount of salt & pepper together with the secret ingredient.
- The dipping sauce.
Yup, you read it right. If you ate this dish without lime & pepper dipping sauce, then you’ve ever truly experienced it to the fullest.
What’s part of chicken did I used?
Well, there is no secret that I am in love with dark meat chicken. Therefore, I’m using boneless chicken thigh in this recipe. However, if you are not a big fan of dark meat, you can always switch out for chicken breast. But be aware of cooking time, the breast part requires less time compared to the thigh meat.
Chicken substitution
You can use other types of meat or seafood for this recipe: shrimp, fish nuggets, turkey nuggets, etc. The amount of other ingredients should stay the same, no need for adjustment.
The secret ingredient
So what is the secret ingredient that I’m bragging about besides those two key ingredients: salt and pepper? It is cinnamon powder. Surprised, right? All you need to do is adding a small amount of this amazing ingredient into your chicken nuggets to make it taste exactly the same with your favorite Chinese restaurant’s dish.
Trouble shooting
I’m using a mixture of tapioca starch and all purpose flour to dredge the chicken. So if you’re seeing white spot all over your chicken nuggets, you should:
- Get rid of any excess as much as possible before adding the chicken to the oil.
- Make sure there is enough oil to cover all the nuggets and the temperature is at least 350F.
- Add small batch of nuggets. Do not over crowd the oil.
Also, before proceeding with the cooking process, make sure you have plenty of vegetable oil available. It’ll run out of oil quickly so having extra on inventory won’t hurt the process.
Besides this delicious salt and pepper chicken nugget, I also have plenty of other wonderful fried chicken recipes. Like this amazing replica of Bonchon fried chicken or this super crispy twice cook chicken wings.
Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken thigh boneless, skin on, cut into bite site
Seasoning mixture
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 small white onion small dice
- 3 jalapeno or other mild/sweet pepper sliced
Marinade mixture
- 1 c milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
For frying
- vegetable oil as needed
- tapioca starch as needed
- all purpose flour as needed
Dipping sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lime juice freshly squeeze
- 1/4 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, put chicken (already cut into bite site cubes) and marinade mixture in. Let chicken marinade for at least 30 minutes, in the fridge (because milk is used here, if left at room temperature, milk might go bad).
Frying process
- In a large mixing bowl, put together tapioca starch and all purpose flour follow this ratio: 3:1. Add a dash of salt into this flour mixture. Mix well so everything is incorporated.
- In a deep shallow frying pan, add vegetable oil (more than half way) and heat on high heat. Make sure the oil reaches 350F before adding dredged chicken nuggets.
- Work in small batch: gradually dredge marinated chicken with flour mixture, before put in hot oil to fry, give it a little shake to get rid of excess of flour. Fry the nuggets for 5-10 minutes (depend on how big your batch is). Or until the chicken turn golden brown color.
- Continue to work with the rest of chicken nuggets. Add more oil, flour mixture as you go, if needed. If you need to add more oil, remember to wait for it to reach 350F before keep frying. Set fried chicken nuggets aside.
Sauteed process
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all seasoning mixture together. In another cooking pan, add 2 tbsp vegetable oil followed by seasoning mixture. Cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes or until white onion just turned golden brown.
- Add fried chicken nugget to the hot pan, give them a few shake to coat the chicken thoroughly with seasoning mixture (around 30 seconds to 1 minute max).
Serving
- Combine all ingredients in dipping sauce and give a few stir.
- Serve chicken nuggets immediately with dipping sauce on the side. Enjoy!
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