Description
Meet mochiko chicken, Hawaii’s delicious contribution to the diverse, global fried chicken scene! This light, crispy, & golden fried chicken is a popular pupu & plate lunch staple in Hawai’i, & it’s one of my all-time favorite things to eat.
If mochiko chicken is new-to-you, you’re in for such a treat! A spin-off of Japanese-style karaage, this style of chicken is battered with mochiko flour, a glutinous sweet rice flour, which makes the resulting fried chicken light & crispy yet uniquely chewy. It’s a little more like classic tempura than crunchy American fried chicken, & it’s so, so good!
This particular recipe comes to us from my mom’s kitchen, so it’s a pretty traditional version that’s really easy to make at home with 10 simple staple ingredients. You’ll whisk together a quick mochiko batter, marinate the chicken in it to soak in all its flavor, & fry the chicken until it’s perfectly golden & crisp.
We top our mochiko chicken with furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) & serve with rice, mac salad, & a generous drizzle of gochujang aioli (a nod to Chef Sheldon Simeon, whose Tin Roof mochiko chicken is one of my favorite versions).
Be sure to check out the blog post, above, to learn more about the beauty of the local Hawaii food scene! It’s something I’ve enjoyed my entire life & it’s so exciting to share with you here on PWWB. ♡ Happy cooking!
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 skin-on chicken thighs (approx. 2–3 pounds, see Recipe Notes)
- ¾ cup mochiko flour (glutinous Japanese sweet rice flour, see Recipe Notes)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- heaping ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- heaping ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons shoyu (or soy sauce, or tamari for gluten-free)
- frying oil
- ¼ cup furikake
- for serving, as desired: rice, Hawaiian mac salad, sautéed cabbage or bok choy, gochujang aioli (below), furikake, thinly sliced green onions, etc.
optional: gochujang aioli
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 tablespoon gochujang
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- kosher salt & ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
- Prep the chicken. Use paper towel to pat the chicken thighs as dry as possible, then trim away any excess skin or fat & discard. To debone, place a chicken thigh on a cutting board, skin side facing down. Use the tip of a sharp knife to carefully scrape against the length of the bone, separating the meat from the bone – this video offers a great visual. Work all the way around the bone until it’s completely detached. Discard the bone (or set aside for later use) & slice the deboned chicken thigh into 6 small cubes. Repeat with the remaining chicken thighs. Set aside.
- Prepare the mochiko marinade & marinate the chicken: To a large bowl, add all listed dry ingredients (mochiko flour, sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, & white pepper). Whisk to combine well. Add the eggs & shoyu, then continue to whisk until the mixture forms a thick, smooth batter. Add the chicken pieces to the batter, stirring to coat well. Cover & transfer to the refrigerator to rest for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.
- Frying prep: About 30 minutes before you’d like to start frying your mochiko chicken, remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator & set it on the counter to allow the chicken to come up to room temperature. Pour enough frying oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or deep skillet (I use a 4-quart Dutch oven) such that the oil is about 1 inch deep. Preheat over medium-high heat. The oil is ready once it sizzles when you sprinkle a little flour into the skillet, approx. 350-375 degrees F.
- Fry the mochiko chicken: Once the oil is hot, transfer the marinated chicken into the hot oil – shake off all excess marinade from the chicken before submerging it in the oil & be sure to work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot. Fry the chicken 4-5 minutes, gently stirring or turning the pieces about halfway through to promote even browning, until the mochiko chicken is crispy, golden brown, & an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of each piece registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Use a spider strainer to carefully transfer the fried mochiko chicken to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil. Season with fruikake while the chicken is still warm. Repeat with the remaining battered chicken.
- Serve immediately with rice, mac salad, noodles, or any other sides you love. Finish with a drizzle of gochujang aioli & an extra sprinkling of furikake or thinly sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Notes
- Ingredient Notes:
- Chicken: Mochiko chicken is traditionally prepared with chicken thighs. My family has always loved the extra richness & texture of skin-on chicken thighs, so that’s what we always use when we make mochiko chicken at our house. If you prefer to use boneless, skinless chicken, that’s just fine. Still yet, I highly recommend using chicken thighs as they stay nice & juicy throughout the frying process, but if you prefer chicken breasts, go for it.
- Mochiko flour is a Japanese sweet rice flour made from glutinous short grain rice. Despite its name, a sweet glutinous rice flour like mochiko is naturally gluten-free & not inherently sweet. Instead, the “glutinous” quality of the rice from which its milled makes it ideal for creating foods & confections with a uniquely bouncy & chewy texture, e.g. Japanese mochi, dumplings, or, of course, mochiko chicken! Koda Farms “Blue Star” Mochiko is the variety most commonly used in Hawaii, which you can typically find at an Asian grocery store with a well-stocked Hawaii section. It’s also readily available online. The “Elephant” brand glutinous rice flour also works beautifully for this mochiko chicken recipe.
- Alternate method: Extra-Crunchy Tin Roof-style mochiko chicken: While my family is most accustomed to traditional mochiko chicken that’s crisp, soft, & bouncy all at once, equally crave-worthy is the extra-crunchy style popularized by Hawaii Chef Sheldon Simeon‘s Maui restaurant Tin Roof. To achieve that extra-crunchy texture, Chef Sheldon tosses the battered mochiko chicken through a dry flour mixture. The resulting breaded chicken has a craggly surface with lots of nooks & crannies that get especially crunchy throughout the frying process. To recreate Tin Roof-style mochiko chicken using this recipe, toss the battered chicken through a mixture of ¾ cup all-purpose flour + ¼ cup cornstarch. Coat each piece of chicken really well, shake off all excess breading, then fry as directed in Step 4 of Recipe Directions, above.
- Storage & Reheating: As is the case with most fried foods, this mochiko chicken is best enjoyed fresh. I suggest scaling the recipe up or down based on your serving needs. Any leftovers, however, will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The best way to reheat mochiko chicken is to toast it in the oven or in an air fryer.
- Reheating in an oven: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the fried mochiko chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 3-4 minutes per side, until toasty & warmed through.
- Reheating in an air fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F. Place the fried mochiko in the air fryer basket & air fry for 2 minutes per side, until toasty & warmed through