Originally published in Jan 28, 2009, updated with new photos.
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I love fried chicken and some of the most flavorful fried chicken in the world are from Southeast Asia, for example, this crispy, moist, juicy and extremely delicious Thai fried chicken.
I learned this Thai fried chicken recipe from Chez Pim, a talented food blogger turned Michelin-star restaurateur. The recipe is easy, with very simple ingredients, and fail-proof.
These fried chicken rival the best ones from street vendors in Bangkok. They are best served with Thai sweet chili sauce which you can buy from Asian stores. Enjoy!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 339 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Thai Fried Chicken
Thai Fried Chicken - the BEST fried chicken recipe ever, marinated with cilantro, garlic and Asian seasonings. Crispy, moist and so good!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. (1 kg) chicken, drumsticks, thighs, breasts, or cut-up chicken pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and pounded
- 2 tablespoons cilantro roots or use the cilantro stems, without leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, large-grained or kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
- oil for deep-frying
Flour mixture:
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons corn starch
- 4 tablespoons rice flour
Instructions
- Clean the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
- Use a mini food processor or a mortar and pestle to blend the garlic, cilantro roots and salt until they become a fine paste.
- Add the paste, fish sauce, oyster sauce, ground black peppper to the chicken and mix well. Transfer the chicken into a big Ziploc bag and marinate for four (4) to six (6) hours in the fridge, or best overnight.
- When ready, heat up a pot of cooking oil or use a deep fryer. While waiting for the oil to heat up, mix the three types of flour together in a new Ziploc bag. Add the chicken and coat evenly with the flour mixture. Shake the excess flour off.
- Drop the chicken gently into the oil and deep fry the chicken until crispy and golden brown (the inside should cook thoroughly but remains juicy). Transfer the fried chicken out on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve the fried chicken immediately with Thai sweet chili sauce.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size
4 peopleAmount Per Serving Calories 339Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 82mgSodium 2319mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 23g
Margaret
Can I air fry instead od deep frying the chicken.
Margaret
Can I use the air fryer instead of deep frying?
Rasa Malaysia
You can try.
Judit Serfozo
Can I use parsley root instead of cilantro root? I do not like cilantro!
Rasa Malaysia
No, cilantro roots are used for Thai fried chicken. If you don’t like it, just skip it.
MD Hasan
Thanks
Jenny
Quick question because I can’t tell from the photos. Should the chicken skin be removed? Recipes for wings obviously are not but the drumsticks are puzzling me.
Rasa Malaysia
Never remove skin when frying chicken.
Pam
What can you use instead of rice flour? I can’t find any
Rasa Malaysia
Skip.
Robert
You may try oriental market they have or Walmart
KDub
I made 8 pounds of this for a party…the was 1 wing left at the end of the night…so good!
Rasa Malaysia
That’s awesome!
LilyC
I love this fried chicken, made it many times now for reunion dinner, birthday dinner, just plain dinner, yum!
The flour mix has become my main mix for anything crispy and crunchy, I keep a pre-mixed bottle in the fridge.
This time i reduced the oyster sauce slightly. Still very good!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Lily, that’s awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Simon Ensor
Yep that is easy and my family gave me a very big thumbs up.
Angelica
Thank you for the chicken recipe Rasa Malaysia Im looking forward to make it. Wondering if I could get the recipe for the sauce on the picture?
Rasa Malaysia
It’s just Thai sweet chili sauce in bottle.
Dorothy Black
Wonderful and quite sophisticated! Tried this with my apricot freezer jam as a dip on the side. Didn’t need it because the chicken was: crisp, well flavored, and juicy. As a cook, I can never leave well alone, I fried it once, let it cool, and fried it again after adding a little more coating. It was very nice but I think frying it one time is better. What I might try is to fry it once and only cook the chicken part of the way, drain, cool, blot, and then finish in the air fryer. When I work my way to making your fried wonton recipe, I’ll use the apricot jam as a dip as I had said that I would for that recipe a few months ago. Can’t thank you enough for another fine recipe, you have “upped” my cooking game
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Dorothy, thanks for your amazing comment, I am so glad to hear that you love this Thai fried chicken recipe.
Helen
I did this the other night with drumsticks and it was fantastic. I used a deep fryer and it was super crispy. The chicken was very tender. I will definitely be doing this again. Thanks.
Fried Chicken Lover
I was a bit disappointed. It tastes like fried chicken, but the high notes of the marinade, the cilantro root, coriander and white pepper, got buried under the umami of the the oyster and fish sauce and the distinct flavor of fried flours.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Fried Chicken Lover, even in Thailand, you don’t actually taste so much of the marinade. Yes, the fish sauce covers up the aroma, but I guarantee you even though subtle, if you just fry the chicken without those other ingredients, they WON’T taste the same!