Content Preview
The other day Mike made falafel and as I was nomming on those delicious little nuggets of deep-fried goodness, I thought to myself, wouldn’t these taste AMAZING as Taiwanese fried chicken!?!? I suggested it to Mike and he was off to the races. He nailed the flavor bang on and while the texture is obviously not chicken-y, I almost kind of sort of preferred the chickpea version. We did a side-by-side taste test with a takeout version and they more than held up.
What is Taiwanese fried chicken?
You may be wondering what Taiwanese fried chicken is. If you haven’t had it, they’re little juicy pieces of deep fried chicken with the most amazing crunch and flavor. They’re sold everywhere in Taiwan: at night markets, restaurants, boba cafes, even grocery stores. They are absolutely one of my favorite snacks.
Pieces of chicken are marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, five spice, white pepper, and a touch of of sugar. Different vendors have different ratios but generally, those are the main flavor components. After being marinated, the chicken pieces are coated in sweet potato flour, which is what gives it their signature crunch. A little bath in hot oil and then you’re headed to fried chicken heaven.
Cooking Notes
Just like falafel, you need to use dried chickpeas to make these – using canned won’t work because the chickpeas are already cooked and when you blend them they will turn into hummus.
Notes
Added_to_Pocket_on_2021-10-31
Raw Structured Data
View JSON-LD Data
[
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "WebSite",
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#website",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/",
"name": "i am a food blog",
"description": "Celebrating the awesomeness of food.",
"potentialAction": [
{
"@type": "SearchAction",
"target": "https://iamafoodblog.com/?s={search_term_string}",
"query-input": "required name=search_term_string"
}
],
"inLanguage": "en-US"
},
{
"@type": "ImageObject",
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#primaryimage",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3639w.jpg",
"width": 2500,
"height": 1668,
"caption": "Vegan Taiwanese Popcorn Chickpea Chicken Recipe | www.iamafoodblog.com"
},
{
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#webpage",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/",
"name": "Vegan Taiwanese Popcorn Chickpea Chicken Recipe · i am a food blog",
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#website"
},
"primaryImageOfPage": {
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#primaryimage"
},
"datePublished": "2020-06-15T07:47:44+00:00",
"dateModified": "2020-06-15T02:05:12+00:00",
"author": {
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#/schema/person/dc6e62fb25a465ce2ef92028afa10244"
},
"description": "If you love falafel and you love Taiwanese popcorn chicken, you'll love with this Taiwanese popcorn chickpea snack, whether or not you're a vegan.",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"potentialAction": [
{
"@type": "ReadAction",
"target": [
"https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/"
]
}
]
},
{
"@type": "Person",
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#/schema/person/dc6e62fb25a465ce2ef92028afa10244",
"name": "Stephanie",
"image": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#personlogo",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"url": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3c634d6d8cdcb10dc1896769ddc25481?s=96&d=blank&r=g",
"caption": "Stephanie"
}
},
{
"@type": "Recipe",
"name": "Vegan Taiwanese Popcorn Chickpea Chicken Recipe",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Stephanie"
},
"description": "",
"datePublished": "2020-06-15T00:47:44+00:00",
"image": [
"https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3639w.jpg",
"https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3639w-500x500.jpg",
"https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3639w-500x375.jpg",
"https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3639w-480x270.jpg"
],
"recipeYield": [
"2"
],
"prepTime": "PT5M",
"cookTime": "PT5M",
"totalTime": "PT10M",
"recipeIngredient": [
"1 cup dried chickpeas",
"1 large shallot (quartered)",
"8 garlic cloves (crushed)",
"1 tbsp five spice",
"1 tbsp white peppercorns (ground or crushed)"
],
"recipeInstructions": [
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "Soak your chickpeas overnight in 2-3 cups of water. The next day, drain well and dry with a kitchen towel.",
"name": "Soak your chickpeas overnight in 2-3 cups of water. The next day, drain well and dry with a kitchen towel.",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#wprm-recipe-31676-step-0-0",
"image": "https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3503.jpg"
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "Combine the shallot, garlic, five spice, and white pepper along with the chickpeas in a food processor. Blitz into a crumbly paste.",
"name": "Combine the shallot, garlic, five spice, and white pepper along with the chickpeas in a food processor. Blitz into a crumbly paste.",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#wprm-recipe-31676-step-0-1",
"image": "https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3510.jpg"
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "Refrigerate your paste for 1-2 hours. Then when you are ready to fry, form into irregular shapes (see note). Before frying, optionally combine 1 teaspoon each of additional five spice and white pepper to use as a dusting powder.",
"name": "Refrigerate your paste for 1-2 hours. Then when you are ready to fry, form into irregular shapes (see note). Before frying, optionally combine 1 teaspoon each of additional five spice and white pepper to use as a dusting powder.",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#wprm-recipe-31676-step-0-2",
"image": "https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3635.jpg"
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "Heat your oil to 300ºF. Drop your chickpea balls in a few at a time, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes, depending on your desired level of brownness. If you are using a dusting powder, dust your chickpea balls as soon as you remove them. Enjoy immediately.",
"name": "Heat your oil to 300ºF. Drop your chickpea balls in a few at a time, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes, depending on your desired level of brownness. If you are using a dusting powder, dust your chickpea balls as soon as you remove them. Enjoy immediately.",
"url": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#wprm-recipe-31676-step-0-3",
"image": "https://iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/vegan-taiwanese-fried-chicken-3592.jpg"
}
],
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.59",
"ratingCount": "12"
},
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#recipe",
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#webpage"
},
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://iamafoodblog.com/vegan-taiwanese-popcorn-chickpea-chicken-recipe/#webpage",
"author_reference": {
"@id": "https://iamafoodblog.com/#/schema/person/dc6e62fb25a465ce2ef92028afa10244"
}
}
]
}
]