BFC - Burmese Fried Chicken

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Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
750g small skin on chicken thighs or drumsticks 
Juice of ½ lime
Flavourless oil for frying 

For the dry rub 
2 tbsps self-raising flour 
1 tbsp ground turmeric 
1 tsp garlic powder 
1 tsp ground ginger 
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp ground white pepper 
1 tbsp chicken or vegetable bouillon 

Method
Take your chicken and make 2-3 slashes in the side then place the chicken in a non-metallic bowl and pour over the lime juice. Turn the chicken over to ensure everything is coated in the lime.  Pour away the excess juice. 

Mix your dry rub ingredients together and one piece at a time, dredge your chicken in the dry rub.  As you remove the chicken just slightly bang against your hand to remove any excess rub.  Place the chicken on a large dish in a single layer and leave to marinate for 2 hours. 

You can cook the chicken in a variety of ways.  Preheat your oven to 180c and place a large baking dish into the oven. You can then: 

Shallow fry 
Heat 4-5cm of oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium/high heat to 175c.  If you do not have a thermometer you can see if the oil is hot enough by taking a small piece of bread and dropping it in the oil, the bread should start to bubble when it is dropped and will take 20 seconds to go golden (if it is less than 20 seconds reduce the temperature and if it is longer, slightly increase the temperature).   

Cook the chicken in batches, do not crowd the pan as you add it as you want the chicken to fry on each side evenly.  Cook for roughly 6-8 minutes each side until golden and turn again and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes each side until cooked through.  The best way to check if the chicken is cooked through is to remove the chicken from the oil and put onto kitchen towel.  Take one piece of chicken and insert a skewer into it, the juices should run clear.  Or if you have a spare piece, cut into it to check.  When the first batch of chicken is cooked, drain on kitchen towel, turn off the oven and place the chicken on to the hot baking tray and shut the door. 

Deep fry 
Heat 8cm of oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium/high heat to 175c.  If you do not have a thermometer you can see if the oil is hot enough by taking a small piece of bread and dropping it in oil, the bread should start to bubble when it is dropped and will take 20 seconds to go golden (if it is less than 20 seconds reduce the temperature and if it is longer, slightly increase the temperature).  Alternatively you can use a deep fat fryer. 

Cook the chicken in batches, do not crowd the pan as you add it as you want the chicken to fry on each side evenly.  Cook for roughly 6-8 minutes each side until golden and cooked through. The best way to check if the chicken is cooked through is to remove the chicken from the oil and put onto kitchen towel.  Take one piece of chicken and insert a skewer into it, the juices should run clear.  Or if you have a spare piece, cut into it to check.  When the first batch of chicken is cooked, drain on kitchen towel, turn off the oven and place the chicken on to the hot baking tray and shut the door. 

Air Fryer 
Spray the basket of your air fryer with oil spray and turn on to 175c. Cook the chicken in batches, do not crowd the pan as you add it as you want the air to circulate and the chicken to cook evenly.  Spray the chicken with some oil and cook for 15 minutes.  To check the chicken is cooked, place on to a piece of kitchen towel and poke with a skewer to check that the juices run clear.  Or if you have a spare piece, cut into it to check.  When the first batch of chicken is cooked, turn off the oven and place the chicken on to the hot baking tray and shut the door.