Dennis Tay’s Filipino Fried Chicken

Ingredients

for the fried chicken:

4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick separated)

for the marinade:

2 cups buttermilk

3 Tbs sambal oelek (chili paste)

3 Tbs tamarind concentrate (or tamarind pulp)

1/4 cup fish sauce

for the dry mix:

3 cups AP flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 Tbs salt

2 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs onion powder

2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp paprika

for the spicy vinegar (also known as sawsawan):

1 cup coconut vinegar (any white vinegar will do)

1/4 cup fish sauce

5 cloves garlic sliced

1 long red chili sliced

1 shallot sliced (or red onion)

1 tsp honey

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

for the spicy banana ketchup:

3/4 cup bottled banana ketchup

1/4 cup your favourite hot sauce (I use fried chilis in oil or sambal oelek)

1 tsp soy sauce

Preparation

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Mix all dry mix ingredients together. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off any access marinade liquid.
3. Dredge the chicken in the flour, really patting the flour mixture onto the chicken and let it hang out in the flour for 10-15 minutes. Heat oil for deep frying in a pot or fryer to 375°. Take chicken out of dredge and shake off any access dry mix from the chicken. Carefully drop the chicken into deep fryer oil making sure not to over crowd the pot or fryer.
4. The temperature of the oil should drop down a bit from 375°. Adjust the heat on the fryer oil to fry the chicken at 350°. Deep fry for 14 minutes moving it around a bit every now and then flipping it in the oil so to give it an even fry. Remove chicken from fryer and let cool on either a cooling rack or paper towel. Season with salt once it comes out of the fryer.
5. For each sauce, mix all of the ingredients together.
6. Serve with steamed rice.