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Bunga Kantan Marinade & Sauce for Crispy Fried Chicken

A recipe for a homemade marinade and sauce with Bunga Kantan (torch ginger flower) to give your fried chicken an extra crispy texture. Can also be used as a dipping sauce.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Course Main Course

Ingredients
  

For the fried chicken:

  • 2 chicken breasts skinned and cubed into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup of cooking oil
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For the marinate & sauce:

  • 1 to rch ginger flower slice into small pieces
  • 2.5 inch piece of fresh turmeric cut into pieces
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder
  • 3 cloves garlic smashed
  • 2 fresh red chili seeded & sliced thinly
  • 5 shallots
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • With a mortar and pestle (or food processor), pound the turmeric, coriander, garlic, chili, and shallots into a fine paste. Add a tiny bit of water if it gets too dry when pounding.
  • The final texture should be moist. Then stir in torch ginger flower pieces and season with salt.
  • Marinate the chicken pieces with half of the paste. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
  • In a wok, heat up 1 1/2 tbsp oil. Add in the remaining half of the paste and saute for two minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and one teaspoon soy sauce, and simmer the sauce for another three minutes or until thickened. Remove sauce and set aside.
  • In a bowl, mix the flour with the marinated chicken. Make sure each piece is well coated with flour.
  • In the same wok, add one cup of oil and heat on high. When oil is heated, turn the flame down to medium. Place chicken pieces immediately into oil and fry for a few minutes, or until golden brown (will probably need to fry 2-3 batches).
  • Dish out and place on paper towel. Once dry, serve immediately with sauce.

Notes

Quick tip on deep frying: 
Keep a few torch ginger flower petals (whole) to add in the frying oil. It will not only mask the taste of oil, but also create another layer of flavor. For any deep frying, I recommend adding spices to the oil, like curry leaves, pandan leaves, and so on.
Keyword chicken
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