Crispy Air-Fried Five-Spice Chicken

Crispy Air-Fried Five-Spice Chicken with crackling skin that is almost as good as deep-fried. The secret is using egg whites and cornstarch.

This week, I experimented with 4 different batters to make air-fried chicken. I tried all-purpose and corn starch with egg wash and all-purpose and corn starch with just egg whites. AP with egg came out pretty crunchy while cornstarch with egg came out light and crispy!

When I used just egg whites, both AP and cornstarch came out crispy with cornstarch taking a slight lead! Whether you use AP or cornstarch is totally up to you and your preference, but I find cornstarch to have a lighter and crispier texture than the crunchy texture AP provides.

When I make fried chicken, I actually like to mix AP and cornstarch for the best of both worlds. I also like to do the double-frying method where I cook with a lower temperature first, and then I turn it up for crispy skin. Doing this allows for the meat to stay moist while the skin gets crispy.

For this experiment, I decided to make five-spice flavored chicken. Five-spice powder is usually a mix of cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cloves, and mine has annatto, but some brands have Szechuan peppercorn. You should be able to find it in the spice section of your grocery store. Hope you give it a try!

More chicken recipes:

Air-fried Vietnamese wings– you’ll never believe they were air-fried!
Air-fried sesame chicken – It’s better than takeout!
Hot honey butter wings (viral) – the crispiest wings that stay crispy for hours

Crispy Air-Fried Five-Spice Chicken

Author: Phuong Le-Tran Cooking Method:air-fryer, air-fried Courses:Main

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 10 minutesCook time:1 hour 10 minutesServings:8 pieces

Description

Crispy air-fried chicken thighs with five-spice seasoning! It’s marinated for 4+ hours or overnight, then coated in egg whites, cornstarch/flour, seasonings, oil, and then air-fried. The internal chicken temperature should be 165F when done.

Ingredients

• 8 skin-on chicken thighs
• neutral oil for brushing on the skin (canola, peanut, grapeseed, safflower)
• 2 egg whites

Marinade

• 4 tablespoons fish sauce (I use 3 crabs, which you can order from Weee!)
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Coating

• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup all-purpose (or you can use all corn-starch)
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional, add more if you like it spicy)
• 1 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix ingredients for the marinade together. Marinate chicken and leave in the fridge for 4+ hours or overnight.
2. Mix ingredients for the coating in a big bowl. Prepare egg wash with just egg whites in a separate bowl.
3. Coat the chicken in egg whites, then in cornstarch, place in air fryer basket, and then brush on some neutral oil. Do not overcrowd the basket.
4. Air fry at 325F for 25 minutes, and then pull the basket out and let rest for 5 minutes. Increase temperature to 350F and cook for about 10 minutes. Time will vary for different sizes. Use meat thermometer to check that it is 165F.
   Cooking at a lower temperature first will prevent overcooking of the meat when trying to crisp up the skin.

Video

Keywords:air-fryer chicken, air-fried chicken, five spice chicken