Mochiko Chicken

Written by Published on in Hawaiian, recipes, regional American food

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1/4 cup mochiko flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon mixed black and white sesame seeds
2 egg, beaten
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (trimmed of excess fat if desired)

Directions:
WARNING: This must be done the day before you want to make the chicken.

Place all ingredients in a resealable bag. Seal and squish around until the ingredients are evenly distributed and the chicken is well coated. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably 16-24.

Heat about 1-inch canola oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Fry, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through and golden brown. Drain on paper towel-lined plates. Serve with rice and mac salad.

My thoughts:
Another Hawaiian favorite! Mochiko flour, a variety of sweet rice flour, is made from super starchy sticky rice (glutenous rice) and is great for thickening so it is the perfect coating for chicken. Sweet rice flour is also used to make mochi. For this chicken it creates the perfect batter, light, crisp and it really sticks to the chicken. The rest of the marinade is a familiar mix of soy sauce, ginger, sugar and garlic to give that sweet-salty flavor that is in so many Hawaiian dishes. It is so good! I am normally not a sweets for main dish type of person but this is really tasty, not too sweet–sort of like a light teriyaki type flavor but much fresher. I like adding sesame seeds for a bit of flavor and crunch but they can be left off, I know sesame seeds can be expensive and if you don’t have them it isn’t worth buying some just for this. 

When I’ve made it before I  cut into bite-sized chunks before marinating. That is how I’ve seen it served most frequently but this time I left the pieces whole so it was easier to divide the chicken among people for dinner and to pack for the next day’s lunches. It cooked just as fast, too!

photo coconut-sig_zpsb2fb208a.jpg

Comments are closed.