Chinese Fried Chicken (Ja Jee Gai)

Crispy Chinese Fried Chicken, ja jee gai
Gong Gong’s Chinese Fried Chicken (Ja Jee Gai)
This was one of my grandpa’s famous dishes. The chicken is allowed to air-dry at least 8 hours to ensure an extra crispy, crackling, golden skin. This recipe is a work in progress, as I’m still trying to sleuth out parts of the recipe, but for now, I wanted to post this as a road map. Happy navigating!

Ingredients:
2 lb whole chicken
2 teaspoons maltose syrup (Yu Yee brand)
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (Great Wall brand)
2 tablespoons secret 8-spice seasoned salt blend*

Preparation:

  1. Clean the chicken, removing any goodies left in the cavity. Rub the cavity of the chicken with the salt blend.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the maltose syrup and vinegar to the water. Stir until the syrup dissolves.
  3. Hold the chicken by the neck over the pot of hot water. Using a ladle, shower the chicken with hot water a spoonful at a time. Do this about 15-20 times until the chicken takes on a golden tan.
  4. Hang the chicken by the neck by the window to air dry for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight. Don’t worry, the chicken will not spoil in room temperature for the extended period of time because the cavity has been cured with salt. (If this makes you nervous, you can also try placing the chicken on a wire rack and drying it out in the fridge). This process will prevent the oil from spattering when you deep fry the chicken.
  5. When you are ready to fry the chicken, fill a large wok three quarters of the way full with vegetable oil. Turn the flame up high to heat up the oil. Once the oil is very hot, place the chicken breast down into the wok and cook for 10 minutes. Three quarters of the chicken should be submerged in the oil. As the breast is being cooked, use a ladle to baste the top of the chicken with the hot oil.
  6. Carefully turn the chicken so that the breast faces up. Cook for 5 minutes. Baste the breast of the chicken with hot oil as the back is being cooked.
  7. Lift the chicken out of the wok and place on a paper towel-lined tray to absorb the excess oil. Serve with a little dish of that special seasoned salt for dipping.

* I’m told that Gong Gong’s proprietary seasoned salt is a blend of 8 spices. Essentially, Chinese five spice plus a few extra. Here are some spices I’d start playing with: black pepper, white pepper, Sichuan pepper, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seed, clove, ginger, nutmeg, orange peel…

Once you’ve nailed your spice blend, make the seasoned salt by dry-roasting Kosher salt with your ground spices, stirring and shaking the pan until the spices are toasted and fragrant.