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椒鹽鷄柳

Popcorn Chicken

👍 3.2K likes
✍️ Published Jun 2026, Updated Oct 2026
Prep
15 min
Cook
10 min
Total
25 min
Serves
4

Prepare to be addicted to my dad’s Popcorn Chicken, a Cantonese twist on the iconic staple of Taiwanese night markets!

Popcorn Chicken (椒鹽鷄柳)

Cooking Summary

Ingredients: (detailed list)

  • Chicken: chicken breast
  • Marinade: white pepper powder, five spice powder, garlic salt, salt, sugar, chicken bouillon, cornstarch, water, egg
  • Dry Batter: cornstarch
  • Seasoning: salt, garlic salt, five spice powder, white pepper powder

Steps:

  1. Prep chicken
  2. Marinate chicken
  3. Create dredge / dry batter
  4. Create seasoning mix
  5. First fry
  6. Second fry
  7. Mix with seasoning

Top 3 Mistakes:

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Overview

Popcorn Chicken: this was one of the more surprising recipes from our recent chicken cookbook shoot.

(We covered something like 20 different chicken recipes and a lot of them might not make it into the final book… but we’ll definitely get around to sharing the recipes!)

I always thought this was exclusively a Taiwanese snack / Western appetizer, but for our cookbook shoot, my dad wanted to showcase a Cantonese version. This one utilizes the “salt & pepper” Cantonese flavor profile, which is less spicy, and with chicken breast instead of thighs.

Why this recipe

The story
Popcorn Chicken (椒鹽鷄柳) — Daddy Lau
Daddy Lau

Most popcorn chicken recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 60+ years and can make this in his sleep.

I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 63.6K views, 3.2K likes on YouTube.

Ingredients

Serves4
Chicken
(thighs work too)
Marinade
Dry Batter
Seasoning

How to make Popcorn Chicken

7 steps
1

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Cut the chicken breast (12 ounce) in half lengthwise, then into slices, then strips about 1/2 inches thick.

Cut longer pieces in half, resulting in strips about 2 inches that are about the size of a pinky finger.

How each knife cut changes your food
LESSON 3.3
How each knife cut changes your food
Dive Deeper →
2

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Add white pepper powder (½ tsp), five spice powder (¼ tsp), garlic salt (½ tsp), salt (½ tsp), sugar (½ tsp), chicken bouillon (½ tsp), cornstarch (1 Tbsp), and water (1 Tbsp) to a bowl, throw in the chicken slices, and mix by hand.

In a separate bowl, separate, beat, and add an egg yolk. Wait until just before frying to mix in the egg.

Why just egg yolk? It gives an adhesive quality and lends to a better golden color after frying. Egg whites are harder to beat, and egg whites make the batter slightly too moist and thick.

3

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Distribute cornstarch (3 Tbsp) evenly on a plate.

Mix the egg yolk with chicken (ideally after the marinade has had some time to absorb, and the meat has time to dry.)

Add the entire bowl of chicken onto the plate of cornstarch, mixing with your hands until each piece is coated. Separate the pieces while massaging around to get more of the cornstarch off the plate and stuck to each piece of chicken.

(You can also do this with a wet batter, but the texture would be more batter-forward.)

4

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Blend salt (½ tsp), garlic salt (½ tsp), five spice powder (¼ tsp), and white pepper powder (¼ tsp) in a small bowl.

5

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Add oil to a wok, heat on high to about 350F, then turn the temperature down to medium while frying.

Before tossing the chicken into the oil, separate each piece by hand.

Fry in two batches for about 2-3 minutes. The strips of chicken should just start to turn from pink to slightly golden brown. Transfer everything out with a spider strainer.

6

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Set to high heat, and heat the oil to 380-400F. Fry in 2 batches, about 30 seconds each. The chicken should turn much more golden brown.

Transfer everything out with spider strainer.

7

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Blend the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl, and place the chicken in a mixing bowl. Gradually sprinkle the blend and toss the chicken simultaneously.

Note: We don’t necessarily need to add all of the seasoning. Do periodic taste tests to make sure it's not too salty.

Top 3 Mistakes

  • Crowding everything at once:

    Cook in manageable batches rather than adding everything at once. Follow the recipe’s batch sizes so you can control the timing and keep the pieces from sticking together.

  • Skipping the meat marinade:

    Mix the meat thoroughly with its marinade and give it the time the recipe calls for. This preparation helps the seasoning coat the pieces before the fast cooking stage begins.

  • Ignoring the oil temperature:

    Check the oil using the recipe’s heat guidance before adding the ingredients. Oil that is too cool or too hot changes how quickly the food cooks and how evenly the surface browns.