When James Fowler cooks 8 pounds of mochiko chicken for his firefighter friends, it disappears in a flash. The Maui High School grad and firefighter now lives in Makiki and also works as a flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines. His version of this chicken is beautiful —wrapped like a present with nori. It is also very flavorful, as he adds two kinds of sugar and a generous amount of garlic and ginger. He also spices it up with red pepper flakes. Fowler says it is best to marinate the chicken pieces overnight in egg, mochiko flour, cornstarch and other seasonings. This makes the chicken very tasty. One of his tricks is to coat the nori-wrapped chicken pieces again with batter before frying, so even the nori portion is delicious. As a main dish, or even as a pupu, this is a winnah recipe.
Non-wrapped Mochiko chicken
Ingredients:
• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 large eggs,beaten
• 1/2 cup mochiko flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 soy sauce, Kikkoman Japanese version preferred
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 6 nori (dried seaweed) sheets, cut into 6 strips
• Canola oil for frying
Directions:
Cut chicken thigh into 3 pieces, cutting the short way. If they are small, cut in half. Mix eggs, flour, cornstarch, soy sauce, sugars, most of the green onions (keep about 1 tablespoon for garnish), garlic, ginger, mirin and red-pepper flakes together until blended. Add chicken pieces and marinate at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.
Fill a pot with about to 2 inches of oil and heat to 375 degrees. Cut nori into 6 strips across the shorter side. Wrap each chicken piece in nori, then dip in batter again, so even the nori strip is coated with batter. Fry until cooked, about 6-8 minutes. Fry in batches so you do not crowd the pan.
Garnish with green onions and serve while hot or at room temperature.
Makes about 36 pieces, enough for 4 people as a main dish, serves more as an appetizer.
