Crispy, crunchy, spicy and overall finger-licking good! Everyone loves fried chicken and Bang Bang Chicken is one of the best fried chicken recipes around. The method is simple and it only takes a few minutes to make. Fresh from the fryer, you can stuff it in sandwiches, use it in a salad, or simply dip in more of the delicious bang bang sauce for an addictive appetizer.
What is Bang Bang Chicken?
There are actually two different dishes known as bang bang chicken. The first one is an authentic Chinese recipe from the Sichuan region. It started off as a popular street food in which the chicken is poached or steamed and then pounded with sticks and mixed with a soy, garlic, and chili sauce. The name derives from the Chinese word 棒 (bàng), meaning stick, because of the implements used to pound the chicken.
The second dish, which is the one we’re making today, is a westernized variation which has become very popular in American Chinese cuisine. It’s a very different beast. For this version, you marinate chicken in spiced buttermilk, then dredge it in bread crumbs and deep fry it. After frying, it is drizzled (or drenched!) in Bang Bang sauce, a simple spicy mayonnaise.
What is Bang Bang Sauce?
Bang bang sauce is simply mayonnaise mixed with chili sauce. It’s super simple to make it at home. You just take mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, and a spicier chili sauce like sriracha and mix them together. My favorite brand of sriracha is Huy Fong, but when you’re mixing it with mayonnaise, it matters less. Use whatever you have at hand.
How to Prepare the Chicken
Easy as pie. (Or perhaps I should say easy as fried chicken, because it’s actually a lot easier than pie!) Take buttermilk, which is a good tenderizer, season the chicken, then mix them together with whatever spices you like. For this recipe, I used mustard and smoked paprika. If you’re at all concerned that your chicken may be tough, you can leave it marinating for a hour or two, but it’s usually not necessary.
After that, you dredge the chicken through a mixture of bread crumbs, flour and cornstarch. The wet marinade soaks up more of the dry ingredients, helping the chicken to get a extra thick and crunchy coating.
How to Fry the Chicken
Many people are nervous of deep frying, but there’s no need to be. There are a few safety tips to follow, to stay safe:
- Use a deep-sided pan and never fill it more than one third full with oil. (I normally use even less than that.)
- Heat the oil to 360°F and don’t let it get much hotter than that. If it gets too hot, just turn off the heat immediately.
- Keep a lid to the pan on hand. In the unlikely event that the oil catches on fire, turn off the heat and put the lid on the pan to smother the flames.
Now the safety lecture is out of the way, let’s get frying! Mix the flour, cornstarch and breadcrumbs together and dredge the chicken pieces through the mixture so it’s well coated. Start heating the oil. Once it is at temperature, use a pair of tongs to lower the chicken pieces into the hot oil. Don’t add too much at once, or you’ll lower the temperature of the oil, leading to soggy chicken. About 6-7 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pan.
Fry until golden brown and crunchy, and the chicken is cooked through. It will take around 4-5 minutes, but you can cut open a piece of chicken to check if you’re not sure. Leave to drain for a few minutes on kitchen paper.
Turning Fried Chicken into Bang Bang Chicken
This is the easiest part! Just drizzle the spicy mayonnaise over the fried chicken. You can use as much or as little as you like. I usually start off with a small amount and bring the extra bang bang sauce to the table for everyone to add more if they want.
I served this as an appetizer, but if you like, you can also stuff the chicken into buns with a little coleslaw for one of the best fried chicken sandwiches ever! It’s also a great thing to have on a buffet as finger food for a big informal party.
Looking for More Party Food?
For a great spread at a big party, try these dishes as well, to go with the bang bang chicken:
Conclusion
Get marinating, dredging, frying and dipping for the crunchiest and spiciest fried chicken around. Bang Bang Chicken has become one of my favorites, and I bet it will become one of yours, too. And how much sriracha are you going to add to your mayonnaise to spice it up? Let me know in the comments how you get on.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 chicken breast cut in cubes
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 cup bread crumbs panko if possible
- salt and pepper
- oil for deep frying
for the Bang Bang sauce
- 6 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha or to taste
Instructions
- Mix the buttermilk with the mustard and paprika and season.
- Add the chicken and stir so that it is well coated.
- Mix the flour, cornstarch and bread crumbs in a separate bowl.
- Dredge the chicken through the bread crumb mixture.
- Pour oil into a deep pan to a depth of about 1 inch. Heat to 360°F / 180°C.
- Add the chicken in batches and fry for about 4-5 minutes until golden, crunchy, and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.
- Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise, sriracha and sweet chili sauce together.
- Serve the crunchy chicken hot with the bang bang sauce on the side
No Comments