Sweet and Spicy Crunchy Popcorn Chicken

Appetizers are dishes that I’m always willing to cook. There is something about bite-sized food popping with flavor that appeals to me. We were exploring various types of street food, which in my mind is the larger-scale example of appetizers, and came across popcorn chicken. Looking at the endless varieties, we discovered sweet and spicy popcorn chicken, which is a bite-sized chicken covered in a flavorful sauce. Yes please!

This recipe for Sweet and Spicy Crunchy Popcorn Chicken is bite-size perfection, lightly covered in corn starch for frying and then cooked in the tangy sauce. The most difficult part of the recipe was trying not to eat it all before we took the final photos.

Prepping the Ingredients

Boneless and skinless chicken thighs are ideal for this dish, as the prep work is quite easy. Using a Boning Knife, remove any large portions of fat from the thighs and cut the chicken into 1-1/2 inch pieces.

Take a teaspoon and scrap away the outside skin from the fresh ginger. Using a 5" Petite Santoku, mince it for both the marinade and the sauce. If you’ve never minced ginger before, check out our infographic on how to do it.

Mix the rice vinegar, minced ginger, salt and pepper in a large bowl and add the chicken, ensuring each chicken piece is coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, place it in the refrigerator and let sit for up to an hour.

Cooking the Popcorn Chicken

This recipe does not require a great deal of oil for frying, especially if you fry the chicken in batches. Take the chicken out of the marinade and roll each piece in corn starch. Again, do this in batches so each piece is coated properly.

Once your oil is up to temperature, place a few pieces of chicken into the oil and fry for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is golden brown. Remove the chicken and place on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Continue this process until all the chicken is cooked. I always use a splatter guard over my pan when frying as this minimizes the mess and clean-up.

Mix the sauce ingredients together and place in a skillet over medium heat until it boils, reduce the heat and continue to stir until the sauce thickens. Add the fried chicken and coat the pieces, cooking until the chicken is warmed through.

Pour the chicken and sauce onto a serving dish and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. Alternatively, you can place the popcorn chicken into individual serving containers and garnish.

The only problem we found with this Sweet and Spicy Crunchy Popcorn Chicken was that it was gone too fast. It was that delicious, There is something about the sauce that had us walking by and popping a piece into our mouths every time we passed the dish. Give it a try – trust me, you won’t be disappointed!