How to make Colm O'Gorman's gorgeous - and cheap - Hawaiian fried chicken

Mochiko - Hawaiian fried chicken

Mochiko Chicken is a Hawaiian variation on Japanese fried chicken, or karaage. While Hawaii has its own distinct cuisine, the sizeable population of people of Japanese origin, who form the second largest ethnic group in Hawaii, have had a significant impact on its food and culture. Sashimi, bento boxes and fried chicken being just three notable examples.

If you have ever tried Japanese mochi, you will be familiar with the texture of mochiko, the glutinous rice flour used to make those sweet soft rice cakes. The same flour is the key ingredient in the batter for this lovely fried chicken recipe.

This chicken recipe is crispy on the outside, and tender and delicious inside. The mochiko flour makes the batter a little soft just below the perfectly crispy exterior to give a texture and flavour like no other. It is fabulous.

You will find mochiko in any good Asian supermarkets, just ask for glutinous rice flour. There really is not an alternative, so do try get hold of some if you want to try this gorgeous fried chicken. It is very inexpensive, and a little goes a long way. A standard small bag of glutinous rice flour will be enough to for you to make this recipe again and again which once you taste it, I guarantee you will want to.

The other flour used in the batter is potato starch. This is also widely available in most Asian supermarkets, but you can use cornflour instead if you wish.

I twice-fry this chicken to get super crispy batter. It only takes a few minutes to fry and is very easy to prepare. Serve it with plain boiled rice and some chilli aioli, and some stir fried greens such as bok choy or tender stem broccoli if you fancy them on the side.

Mochiko - Hawaiian Fried Chicken

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Marinating time: 4 hours to overnight

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Mochiko Chicken

• 450g boneless skinless chicken thigh

• 1 egg

• 20g glutinous rice flour

• 20g cornflour or potato starch

• 20g caster sugar

• 3-4 cm fresh ginger root

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 3 spring onions

• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

• 1 litre of sunflower oil

• Chilli aioli

• 125g mayonnaise

• 1 tbsp gochujang or sriracha chilli sauce

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1 tsp honey or caster sugar

• Pinch flaky sea salt

• Splash of lemon juice

Method

1. Trim away any excess fat from the chicken thighs and cut them into strips about 2cm thick. Peel and grate the garlic and the ginger. Wash, trim, and chop the spring onions.

2. Pop the egg into a large bowl, along with the rice flour, potato starch, caster sugar, the grated ginger and garlic and the chopped spring onion. Whisk to combine into a thick batter.

3. Add the chicken and stir to coat the meat all over. Cover with some cling film and pop it into the fridge for at least four hours, or overnight if possible.

4. Just before you are ready to cook the chicken, stir in the sesame seeds.

5. Heat the oil to 180c in a large saucepan. Getting the oil to this temperature is vital if you want well cooked, crispy chicken. If the oil is not hot enough, the batter will be soggy and unpleasant. The easiest and most accurate way to make sure the oil is at the perfect temperature is to use a thermometer, but if you do not have one, there are a few other ways to check.

6. Firstly, the oil should not be at smoking point, if it starts to smoke, then it is too hot and you will need to reduce the heat and let it cool a little. Test the temperature with a very small amount of the batter from the Mochiko Chicken. Just drop a pea sized amount into the oil and if it quickly rises to the surface and sizzles, your oil is hot enough. If it rises to the surface and browns instantly, your oil is too hot, and you will need to let it cool a little more before frying the chicken.

7. You can also test the temperature by dropping a 2cm piece of bread into the pan. The bread should take about thirty seconds to brown if your oil is at the right temperature.

8. When the oil is at 180 Celsius, carefully add some of the chicken. Take care not to crowd the pan or the chicken will not cook properly. Instead fry the chicken in two to three batches. Fry it for just three minutes, and then remove it from the oil and allow it drain on some kitchen paper or a wire rack as you move on to the next batch. Make sure that you allow the oil to get back to temperature between batches to ensure the perfect batter.

9. When all the chicken has had its first fry, bring the oil back to 180 Celsius and fry the chicken again, for just two minutes this time. If your pan is large enough, you can do the second fry in a single batch. After two minutes, remove the chicken from the oil and allow it to drain on some clean kitchen paper for a few minutes while you make up the chilli aioli.

10. To make the aioli, peel and grate the garlic. Pop it into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and whisk to combine.

11. Serve the chicken with a drizzle of the chilli aioli and more chopped spring onion scattered over the top, with plain boiled rice and the rest of the aioli on the side.