This recipe is ready to become a regular staple in your meal rotation. (Photo By: Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)
Jump to Recipe
Taiwanese popcorn pheasant are extra crispy, flavor explosions. It’s impossible not to pop these addictive bites into your mouth immediately after they’ve come out of the fryer—and burning your tongue in the process. The savory aromas of Chinese five-spice hit you even before the burn, and the crunch is unlike anything the Colonel can offer.
As you have probably guessed, the original dish is made with chicken and is a popular street food in the night markets of Taiwan. In the U.S., Taiwanese popcorn chicken is often sold as a snack at Asian boba tea or bubble tea shops. I’ve eaten loads while growing up in Garden Grove, California , and whenever I go back to visit my family, I always have to have a taste. As I’ve recently found out, the dish is quite easy to prepare at home—assuming you can track down the ingredients.
Bob’s Red Mill makes tapioca flour, which is the same as tapioca starch. All-purpose flour will provide a completely different crunch and flavor, so I don’t recommend that substitution. Those new to Asian cooking should note that rice cooking wine is not comparable to rice wine vinegar, so don’t mistake the two. Pale dry sherry or Japanese sake will make okay substitutions.
If you have trouble finding tapioca flour, use corn starch or potato starch instead. (Photo By: Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley) I used Italian basil here, but Thai basil is preferable. I found that the aroma of Italian basil did not carry through after frying. Remember to completely dry wash basil before frying because any moisture will explode in the hot oil, even more so than normal. If you don’t want to deal with the oil splatter—and there’s no getting around it—just skip the basil. The pheasant will still taste just as good.
As for the meat itself, I always prefer using aged birds over fresh birds, which will yield a more tender and flavorful end result. I’ve made it a habit to age all my pheasants, so toughness is rarely an issue. To learn more about aging pheasant, look for my story “Why You Should Age Your Game Birds (And How to Do It the Right Way).” Aging is especially important if you plan on using thigh meat for this recipe.
If you’d like to make a meal of it, lightly pound each pheasant breast and fry them as cutlets. After upland season, try this recipe with wild turkey or chicken.
Taiwanese Popcorn Pheasant Recipe Yield: 4 appetizersPrep Time: 70 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
Special Equipment: oil thermometer, splatter guard
Main Ingredients: 1 pound of boneless, skinless pheasant breasts and/or thighs 1 tbs. soy sauce ¾ tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder 1 tsp. sugar ½ tsp. white pepper 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced ½ tsp. onion salt ½ tsp. ground ginger (or freshly grated) 1 tbs. Shaoxing rice cooking wine 1 egg white 1 tbs. corn starch 1 tbs. water 1 cup tapioca flour/starch (or corn starch) 8 fresh basil leaves, preferably Thai basil Frying oil, peanut or vegetable Sweet chili dipping sauce This recipe is awesome for sharing with others as a snack or appetizer. (Photo By: Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley) Cooking Directions: Cut pheasant meat into 1-inch pieces. In a small mixing bowl, combine soy sauce, kosher salt, 5-spice powder, sugar, white pepper, garlic, onion salt, ginger, rice wine, egg white and cornstarch. Add pheasant pieces and combine well. Marinate on the counter for 1 hour or in the refrigerator covered overnight. In a frying pan, preheat 1½ inches of oil to 350° Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, pour 1 cup of tapioca flour into a wide, shallow bowl or small cookie sheet. Sprinkle 1 tbs. of water over the flour and stir with a fork to form small clumps; these clumps will stick to the pheasant and get extra crispy when fried. Stir the marinated pheasant and add half the meat into the flour. Wet your hands under the sink, and massage meat to encourage the tapioca flour to stick. The meat has to be wet for the coating to stick, so dip pieces back into excess marinade if needed. Deep fry coated pheasant pieces in batches until the coating turns golden and crispy. Note that tapioca flour will not brown as well as all-purpose flour, so as long as the coating is crispy, it’s done. Coat the remaining pheasant and allow oil to return to 350 degrees before frying each new batch of popcorn pheasant. Drain fried pheasant on a cooling rack or paper towels. To fry basil, make sure basil is completely dry first. Then with a splatter guard ready in your other hand, add the basil leaves to hot oil and immediately cover with the guard. Basil has a lot of water in them and will splatter violently, so be careful. Fry for several seconds until the leaves start to turn translucent. Immediately remove the leaves and drain. If desired, lightly sprinkle with fine sea salt. Serve warm popcorn pheasant with fried basil leaves garnished on top. Offer sweet chili sauce on the side for dipping.
