Description
Chicken tempura nuggets are wafer-thin batter coated chicken nuggets fried to golden brown. They have a crunchy, delicate, and fluffy texture. The outer crispy coating and inner tender chicken make this a great appetizer.
Kids and teens love chicken nuggets, and what’s better than fluffy chicken nuggets? John loves to cook different dishes from around the world. On our family trip to Japan, he noticed the crunchy chicken tempura being served in every high-profile sushi restaurant. He tried cooking his favorite veggies and seafood in tempura every weekend. After years of experimenting, he made the best tempura chicken nuggets, I swear!
Ingredients
Scale
For Chicken Marination:
- 300 g boneless chicken
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tsp Black pepper powder
- 1 tsp salt
For Flour Coating:
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tsp paprika powder
For Tempura Batter:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 egg whites
- 5 ice cubes
- 1/2 cup of cold water
For Frying:
-
1 ½ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Marinate the Chicken in Seasonings: Place the washed and cleaned boneless chicken in a bowl. Marinate the chicken with dark soy sauce, black pepper, and salt. Set it aside and proceed to the next step.
- Prepare the Flour Coating: Combine flour, paprika powder, and cornstarch in a separate flat plate or dish.
- Prepare the Tempura Batter: In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic powder, egg whites, and ice cubes. Add cold water and make the semi-thin or wafer-thin batter. Remove the major lumps, but don’t overmix. Don’t worry about small lumps; they will disappear once we fry them.
- Prepare the Frying Oil: Preheat vegetable oil (or any neutral oil) in a deep pot or pan to 180 degrees. Use a contactless cooking thermometer or check the oil temperature by sprinkling some batter. If the bubbles of batter come to the top without getting burned, the oil is ready for frying.
- Coat and Fry: Take the chicken piece and coat it in the flour mixture. Then coat it in the batter, throwing off excess batter, and drop it immediately in hot oil. Fry them for 4-5 minutes, flipping in between, until the chicken is cooked from inside and crispy light brown. Coat and fry all the chicken in batches. The batter will puff up when you fry them and create a fluffy texture. Once cooked, separate the chicken nuggets from the oil and serve with your favorite dishes.
Notes
- Oil Temperature is Important! Check the oil temperature using a cooking thermometer. The best temperature is 180 degrees Celsius (365F). Use a cooking thermometer for accuracy. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, you can test the oil for readiness for frying by dropping some batter in it. The oil is good for frying if the batter rises to the top and is surrounded by oil bubbles without getting burned.
- Ingredients Should Be Cold: The main secret to the perfect tempura batter is to keep it cold. Use cold water and ice cubes to make the batter cold. You can also use chilled flour for extra light and cold batter. The reason for making the batter cold is that cold water reacts with hot oil immediately, making it crispier than regular nuggets.
- Don’t Waste the Leftover Batter: One secret tip from John’s kitchen is to make tempura shrimp and tempura vegetables. The method is simple: coat the shrimp, potatoes, eggplant, root vegetables (or whatever veggie I have in my fridge) in batter and fry them until light and crispy. They are just like fritters. John often fries squash blossoms in leftover batter, which is so yummy.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Meal
- Method: Fried
- Cuisine: Japanese