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Thai Fried Chicken - the BEST fried chicken recipe ever, marinated with cilantro, garlic and Asian seasonings. Crispy, moist and so good!
Originally published in Jan 28, 2009, updated with new photos.
I love fried chicken and some of the most flavorful fried chicken in the world are from Southeast Asia, for example, this crispy, moist, juicy and extremely delicious Thai fried chicken.
I learned this Thai fried chicken recipe from Chez Pim, a talented food blogger turned Michelin-star restaurateur. The recipe is easy, with very simple ingredients, and fail-proof.
These fried chicken rival the best ones from street vendors in Bangkok. They are best served with Thai sweet chili sauce which you can buy from Asian stores. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 339 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Thai Fried Chicken
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
- Taiwanese Salt And Pepper Chicken
- Japanese Fried Chicken
- Korean Fried Chicken
- Malaysian Belacan Fried Chicken
Thai Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs (1kg) chicken drumsticks, thighs, breasts, or cut-up chicken pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and pounded
- 2 tablespoons cilantro roots , or use the cilantro stems, without leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, large-grained or kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
- oil , for deep-frying
Flour mixture:
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons rice flour
Instructions
- Clean the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Use a mini food processor or a mortar and pestle to blend the garlic, cilantro roots, and salt until they form a fine paste.
- Add the paste, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and ground black pepper to the chicken, mixing well to combine. Transfer the chicken to a large Ziploc bag and marinate in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
- When ready, heat a pot of cooking oil or use a deep fryer. While the oil heats up, mix the three types of flour together in a new Ziploc bag. Add the chicken and coat it evenly with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour.
- Gently drop the chicken into the oil and deep fry until crispy and golden brown, ensuring the inside is fully cooked but remains juicy. Transfer the fried chicken to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
- Serve the fried chicken immediately with Thai sweet chili sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I use parsley root instead of cilantro root? I do not like cilantro!
No, cilantro roots are used for Thai fried chicken. If you don’t like it, just skip it.
Thanks
Quick question because I can’t tell from the photos. Should the chicken skin be removed? Recipes for wings obviously are not but the drumsticks are puzzling me.
Never remove skin when frying chicken.
What can you use instead of rice flour? I can’t find any
Skip.
You may try oriental market they have or Walmart
I made 8 pounds of this for a party…the was 1 wing left at the end of the night…so good!
That’s awesome!
I love this fried chicken, made it many times now for reunion dinner, birthday dinner, just plain dinner, yum!
The flour mix has become my main mix for anything crispy and crunchy, I keep a pre-mixed bottle in the fridge.
This time i reduced the oyster sauce slightly. Still very good!
Hi Lily, that’s awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://www.666630.xyz/recipe-index-gallery/
Yep that is easy and my family gave me a very big thumbs up.
Thank you for the chicken recipe Rasa Malaysia Im looking forward to make it. Wondering if I could get the recipe for the sauce on the picture?
It’s just Thai sweet chili sauce in bottle.
Wonderful and quite sophisticated! Tried this with my apricot freezer jam as a dip on the side. Didn’t need it because the chicken was: crisp, well flavored, and juicy. As a cook, I can never leave well alone, I fried it once, let it cool, and fried it again after adding a little more coating. It was very nice but I think frying it one time is better. What I might try is to fry it once and only cook the chicken part of the way, drain, cool, blot, and then finish in the air fryer. When I work my way to making your fried wonton recipe, I’ll use the apricot jam as a dip as I had said that I would for that recipe a few months ago. Can’t thank you enough for another fine recipe, you have “upped” my cooking game
Hi Dorothy, thanks for your amazing comment, I am so glad to hear that you love this Thai fried chicken recipe.
I did this the other night with drumsticks and it was fantastic. I used a deep fryer and it was super crispy. The chicken was very tender. I will definitely be doing this again. Thanks.
I was a bit disappointed. It tastes like fried chicken, but the high notes of the marinade, the cilantro root, coriander and white pepper, got buried under the umami of the the oyster and fish sauce and the distinct flavor of fried flours.
Hi Fried Chicken Lover, even in Thailand, you don’t actually taste so much of the marinade. Yes, the fish sauce covers up the aroma, but I guarantee you even though subtle, if you just fry the chicken without those other ingredients, they WON’T taste the same!