Taiwanese salt-and-pepper chicken: bite-size chunks of chicken thigh marinated in soy sauce, garlic, rice wine and five-spice, dredged in coarse sweet-potato starch and deep-fried into a craggy, ragged crust. A fistful of Thai basil is dropped into the oil at the very end to fry crisp alongside the chicken, and the drained pieces are tossed with five-spice salt-and-white-pepper. The single most common snack at any Taiwanese night market, where one stall fries it to order beside squid, tempura and green beans.
Salt-and-pepper chicken grew up with the postwar Taiwanese night market as the islanders' own take on fried chicken, defined by two local touches: a coating of coarse sweet-potato starch rather than wheat batter, and a fistful of Thai basil fried in at the end for its peppery perfume. Several shops claim to have started it, but the stories do not hold up: the often-cited 'first salt-and-pepper chicken' of Taipei's Ximending turns out to have been the name of a seasoning-powder wholesaler, not the dish's inventor, and no single founding date is reliably documented. What is certain is that the formula spread from stall to stall until it became the default fried snack of the night market, sold from carts that fry a whole spread of ingredients in the same oil.
The crust comes first, all crags and ragged spurs from the coarse starch — it shatters with a dry, loud crunch, almost like crackling. Under it the thigh meat is still juicy and faintly sweet from the marinade. Scattered through are the fried basil leaves, paper-thin and crackly, breathing a clove-and-pepper aroma. The five-spice pepper-salt lands savory and warm on the tongue, with the optional chili powder adding a low burn after.
Coarse sweet-potato starch is the key: its large, irregular granules cling to the marinated surface in lumps rather than a smooth film, so frying sets a rough, porous shell with far more crunchy surface area than fine flour would give. The chicken is fried twice — first around 160-170°C to cook it through and firm the crust, then lifted out while the oil is pushed up to about 180°C and dropped back in for a short second fry, which drives off surface moisture and oil and locks the shell brittle. The Thai basil goes in only for the last seconds: its high water content flashes to steam and crisps the leaf while releasing volatile aromatic oils, but any longer would scorch it black and bitter. The seasoning is five-spice mixed with salt and white pepper, tossed on off the heat so it coats the dry crust instead of dissolving into the oil.
Variations
A salt-and-pepper stall is really a fry-anything cart: the same marinade, starch and basil treatment is given to squid, fish balls, tempura (tian-bu-la), king oyster mushrooms, green beans, chicken skin, sweet-potato chips and steamed buns, all fried to order in one pot. Boneless chicken thigh is the standard cut, though breast and even small bone-in pieces appear. Heat-seekers ask for extra chili powder; some shops finish with a dusting of plum powder or a squeeze of garlic instead.
On the Palate
Where Salt and Pepper Chicken sits in the Taiwanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 3
How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 165 min
Cut boneless chicken thigh into bite-size chunks. Marinate with soy sauce, minced garlic, rice wine, five-spice, a little sugar and salt for at least an hour.
- 26 min
Dredge the chunks in coarse sweet-potato starch, shaking so each piece is thickly and evenly coated; rest 5 minutes, then toss in the starch a second time for extra craggy crust.
Watch outDredge in the coarse sweet-potato starch and coat it twice, letting it rest between — those craggy lumps are what fry into the rough, extra-crunchy shell; a smooth thin coat gives a flat, dull crust.
- 35 min
Heat oil to about 160-170°C and fry the chicken until cooked through and the crust is set and pale gold; lift out and drain.
- 42 min
Raise the oil to about 180°C and return the chicken for a short second fry until deep golden and crisp.
Watch outRaise the oil hotter for the short second fry — that blast drives out the oil and locks the shell brittle; skip it and the crust turns soft and greasy within minutes.
- 51 min
In the last seconds, drop a fistful of Thai basil into the oil and fry until the leaves are crackly, then lift out chicken and basil together and drain.
Watch outThrow the basil in for just the last few seconds until the leaves go crackly-crisp — its water flashes to steam; leave it in too long and it browns and goes bitter.
- 61 min
Toss the hot drained chicken and basil with five-spice salt-and-white-pepper; add chili powder to taste and serve at once.
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