Yan Su Ji

Yan Su Ji (Simplified Chinese: 盐酥鸡; Traditional Chinese: 鹽酥雞; Pinyin: Yán sū jī; also Taiwanese popcorn chicken or salt crispy chicken) is a Taiwan night-market snack of small boneless chicken pieces, marinated, coated in sweet-potato starch or similar, deep-fried until crisp, and tossed with salt, white pepper, and often basil leaves. English "popcorn chicken" is a menu nickname for the bite-size pieces—not a claim of US fast-food inventorship. Soft marketing that every fried chicken nugget is yan su ji is stretch. It is distinct from larger bone-in Taiwanese fried chicken cutlets (鸡排) and from Mainland general fried chicken categories.

Characteristics

Golden irregular nuggets; shell is crunchy and powdery-crisp; seasoning is salty-peppery with fragrant fried basil in many stalls.

Ingredients (overview)

Chicken thigh or breast pieces, sweet-potato starch coating, salt, white pepper, five-spice or house spice mix, Thai basil or Taiwan basil; oil for frying. Overview only.

History and culture

Modern Taiwan night-market and snack-shop icon; spread with Taiwanese diaspora menus. Soft exclusive-origin shop branding is commercial folklore. English menus say "Taiwanese popcorn chicken," "salt crispy chicken," or "yan su ji." See Taiwan Food.

Serving and variations

Paper-bag or box snack at night markets; bar and casual restaurant appetizer. See Taiwan Food, Sweet Potato Balls, and Gua Bao.

See also

• Taiwan Food
• Sweet Potato Balls
• Gua Bao
• Salt Baked Chicken
• List of dishes (A-Z)