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If you’re looking for fried chicken then Chick ’n’ Sours is a pretty damn good place to head. There you’ll find the perfect crunch of batter, and flavours featuring seaweed seasoning, katsu spice and sriracha mayonnaise. Want to have a go at recreating one the mini-chain’s classics at home? Look no further than this burger recipe.
K-Pop chicken sandwich
What you need
Six burger buns, split and toasted.
A few good handfuls of shredded iceberg lettuce, to serve.
For the sauces
75g mayonnaise.
15g gochujang (Korean chilli paste) or another Asian chilli sauce.
A squeeze of lime juice, to taste.
75g soured cream.
1tbsp sriracha chilli sauce.
For the slaw
Juice of two limes.
One red chilli (deseeded if you like), finely chopped.
2tsp fish sauce.
2tsp palm or light brown sugar.
About 100g bean sprouts.
One carrot, about 90g, shredded.
75g daikon (mooli), shredded, or trimmed and shredded radishes.
3tbsp chopped coriander leaves.
For the chicken
Six skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, trimmed.
60g plain flour.
75g rice flour or dried rice, ground to a fine powder in a spice mill.
30g cornflour.
One large egg.
120ml milk.
About two litres vegetable oil, for frying.
What you need to do
1. For the sauces, whisk the mayonnaise and gochujang together in a small bowl, adding lime juice to taste. Whisk the soured cream and sriracha in another bowl, tasting and adding lime as needed. Cover both and chill until ready to build. They can be made a couple of hours ahead.
2. To make the slaw, mix the lime juice, chopped chilli, fish sauce and palm sugar in a big bowl, whisking to dissolve. Blanch the bean sprouts by dunking them briefly in boiling water, then drain, refresh quickly in cold water, and pat dry. Add to the bowl with the rest of the slaw ingredients and toss to coat.
3. Put the chicken fillets in between two pieces of cling film and bash to an even thickness (1cm) with a rolling pin. Sift the flours and one teaspoon of salt into a mixing bowl and mix well. In another bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Take one of the pieces of chicken and toss in the flour, making sure to cover all surfaces. Shake off the excess then drop into the egg wash to coat. Lift it out and let the excess liquid run off then put the chicken back into the flour mixture. Toss to coat again then transfer to a baking tray lined with a sprinkle of the flour mixture (to soak up excess moisture). Repeat with the remaining pieces of chicken until all six are coated. Do all of this up to an hour before cooking and keep in the fridge.
4. Heat about 5cm of vegetable oil in a big, deep frying pan. You want it hot but not smoking, test with a cook’s thermometer to reach 170C or drop a small piece of bread in the oil, once ready it will take about a minute to turn golden brown.
5. Add half the chicken to the oil and cook for about three to four minutes before turning over and cooking for another four minutes until crisp and golden on both sides. Cut into the thickest part of the chicken to make sure it’s cooked through. Once they’re cooked, transfer to a baking tray lined with kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the second batch.
6. Drain the slaw of any liquid that has collected at the bottom of the bowl. Spread the sriracha soured cream on to the toasted base of the buns; top with a handful of shredded iceberg lettuce. Place the cooked chicken on top then pile on a mound of the drained spicy slaw. Spoon the gochujang mayonnaise over, then top with the bun lid.
Read the recipes for more iconic London dishes.