Hawaiian-Style Fried Chicken

This is a delicious very crunchy chicken recipe that I found in the Best of 2018 America's Test Kitchen recipes. It uses potato starch to make the chicken crunchy.  Would definitely try it again!

I fried this a day ahead and will see if I can bake it the next day and still be crunchy. I also tried putting it in potato starch the night before, and then pan fried it the next night and it was still good! Still good if you make this ahead too; you can reheat it in the oven.  I had a lot of leftover potato starch mixture so next time, might make half of that or cook more chicken than 2 pounds!

Tried this recipe again, making it into chicken nuggets and worked just as well! This time, needed all 2 1/4 cups of potato starch though.

My modifications:

• Didn't grind ginger in food processor with chopped garlic
• Marinated in soy sauce for longer- for 6 hours, and was still good
• Did not set the chicken aside for 30 min- 1 hr after putting it in the potato starch. Just fried it after putting it in potato starch.
• Did not make the dipping sauce- the chicken seemed flavorful enough without it

Here's what I did:

1. Halved the chicken thighs cross wise
2. Made the marinade (3 oz chopped ginger, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 1 cup water, 1/2 soy sauce, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon sesame oil)
3. Placed chicken in marinade for several hours, covered with saran wrap in fridge
4. Made the potato starch mixture (2 and 1/4 cup potato starch, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and salt and pepper)
5. Placed the marinaded chicken in potato starch mixture, pressing the potato starch to adhere. Dust off excess potato starch and browned in frying oil

Hawaiian-Style Fried Chicken (~from Diane Unger, Cook's Country)

Ingredients: 
Chicken

• 1 (3 oz) piece ginger, unpeeled, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (used chopped ginger)
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled (used chopped garlic)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved cross wise
• 2 1/4 cup potato starch
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• salt and pepper
• 3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (2 lemons)
• Pepper

Directions:

1. For the chicken: Process ginger and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, about 15 seconds; transfer to large bowl. (I did not do this step, and used chopped garlic and ginger) Add water, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil and whisk to combine. Add chicken and press to submerge. Cover blow with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. (I marinated in fridge for 6 hours and was ok)
2. For the dipping sauce: Whisk vinegar, soy sauce, and lemon juice together in bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set wire rack in second rimed baking sheet. Whisk potato starch, sesame seeds, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper together in large bowl.
4. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, remove from marinade, allowing excess to drip back in bowl. Dredge chicken potato starch mixture, pressing to adhere. Gently shake off excess and transfer chicken to parchment-lined sheet. Coating will look mettled; using your hand, press on chicken to smooth out coating. Cover sheet tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 min or up to 1 hour. (I did not do this last step) 
5. Add peanut oil (I used vegetable oil) Dutch oven until I measures about 2 inches deep; heat oil over medium high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully add one-third of chicken to pot and fry until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes, stirring gently as needed to prevent pieces from sticking together. Adjust burner, if necessary to maintain oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees. (I just pan fried the chicken in vegetable oil)
6. Transfer chicken to prepared rack. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat in 2 more batches with remaining chicken. Serve chicken with sauce.