Dublin Chinese-takeaway invention from the 2010s: salt-and-chili fried chicken pieces, crispy chips, fried sliced peppers and onion, fresh chili, all tossed in a Chinese five-spice-and-garlic-salt seasoning in a paper bag. Eaten by hand straight from the bag — the unifying late-night food across Dublin and now the whole country.
Widely credited to the Sunflower takeaway in Dublin's Templeogue, where (per RTÉ reporter Liam Geraghty's 2016 investigation) staff created it around 2006 as an off-menu, after-hours meal; popular demand put it on the menu, and it spread through Ireland's Chinese-Irish takeaway network from the early 2010s (some accounts instead point to Galway or Cork — the exact origin is unsettled). It was voted Ireland's favourite takeaway in Just Eat's national awards (2017, and again around 2020) and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2025. It represents a uniquely Irish-Chinese hybrid — chip-shop chip culture meeting Cantonese salt-and-pepper technique. Now a heritage dish despite being under 20 years old.
Chicken outside is crackling — double-fry has driven out moisture and locked in starch crust. Inside is juicy from the marinade. Chip wedge is fluffy-soft inside and crisp outside. Peppers contribute fresh-veg crunch and the chili pops red-hot at random. The five-spice rises from the bag whenever you reach in — fennel-clove-cinnamon-anise-pepper. Eats best at 1am, walking home.
Double-frying is the chip-shop secret: first fry cooks the interior; second fry at higher temp drives the residual moisture out via steam, creating a true crisp shell. Cornflour-based dredge produces a thinner, glassier crust than wheat flour alone — the Cantonese salt-and-chili-shrimp technique. Tossing everything in spice + paper bag means each piece picks up powder by friction.
Variations
Sweet chili sauce on the side is standard at most takeaways; curry-sauce dip is the alternative. Salt-and-chili tofu replaces the chicken for vegetarian. Some takeaways add prawn crackers. Cork variants tend to be hotter; Dublin classics use more 5-spice.
On the Palate
Where Spice Bag sits in the Irish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 35 min active + 10 min waiting
- 116 min
Chicken: cut 500 g boneless chicken thigh into 3 cm pieces. Marinate 15 min in 2 tbsp soy + 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine + ½ tsp white pepper + 1 tsp 5-spice + 1 tbsp cornflour.
- 24 min
Coat marinated chicken in 60 g cornflour + 30 g flour + ½ tsp salt + ½ tsp pepper.
- 37 min
Heat oil to 175°C. Fry chicken 4 min until golden. Drain. Re-fry at 190°C for 1 min to crisp. Drain.
Watch outFry the chicken twice: first at 175°C to cook it, then hotter at 190°C for a minute — the second fry steams out the moisture and gives the real crunch.
- 47 min
Chips: blanch 600 g potato sticks in 150°C oil 4 min. Drain. Re-fry at 190°C for 3 min until crisp. Salt.
Watch outSame double-fry for the chips — blanch soft first, then blast at 190°C till the shells crackle; skip the second fry and they go limp.
- 54 min
Vegetables: heat 1 tbsp oil. Stir-fry 1 sliced red pepper + 1 sliced green pepper + 1 sliced onion + 2 sliced red chilis + 4 sliced garlic for 3 min until just softened.
- 62 min
Spice mix: stir together 1 tsp 5-spice + 1 tsp chili flakes + 1 tsp garlic salt + ½ tsp white pepper + ½ tsp sugar.
- 73 min
In a large bowl or paper bag: combine chicken + chips + vegetables. Sprinkle spice mix; toss vigorously to coat everything. Optional: drizzle with sweet chili sauce or curry sauce on the side.
Watch outToss everything with the spice in a bag while still piping hot — the friction is what coats each piece; do it cold and the powder just falls off.
