Dinner

Soy-Garlic Popcorn Chicken and Rice Cakes

Use one pan to fry the chicken and a separate skillet for the rice cakes and sauce. The pieces meet only at the end, when a thickened garlic glaze coats both.

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Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean-inspired

Bring it to the table

Keep the two pans separate

The watery glaze goes into the lightly oiled rice-cake skillet. Keep it away from the deeper oil used to fry the chicken.

At the table

Finish with chopped peanuts and cilantro and serve while the coating is crisp.

Before you start

Gather your ingredients.

Full quantities and serving adjustments are in the recipe card below.

See the ingredient checklist

1 cup cylindrical rice cakes — about 2 1/2 inches long
1 1/4 lb boneless chicken — cut into 1-inch pieces
1 piece fresh ginger — 1 inch long; finely grated
2 cloves garlic — finely grated, for chicken
1 tbsp mirin — for chicken
1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt — for chicken; or half as much Morton
black pepper — to taste
8 cloves garlic — coarsely chopped, for glaze
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp mirin — for glaze
1/2 cup water — for glaze
1 cup potato starch or cornstarch — for coating chicken
1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt — for starch coating; or half as much Morton
1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch — for slurry
2 tbsp water — for slurry
1 tbsp vegetable oil — for rice cakes in a separate skillet
vegetable oil — for shallow-frying chicken; enough for 1/2-inch depth
roasted peanuts — chopped, to finish
cilantro — to finish

A few useful notes.

Pat soaked rice cakes thoroughly dry before adding them to oil.

Use separate pans for shallow-frying chicken and making the watery glaze.

The cooking plan

How to make Soy-Garlic Popcorn Chicken and Rice Cakes.

Soak rice cakes in cold water for 20 minutes. Drain, pat very dry and cut in half. Meanwhile coat chicken with ginger, grated garlic, chicken mirin, chicken salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated while preparing the sauce.
Combine chopped garlic, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, glaze mirin and glaze water in a bowl. In a separate small bowl mix the slurry starch with its water.
Mix the coating starch with its salt and toss the chicken in it. Heat a 1/2-inch depth of frying oil in a heavy pan to 350°F. Fry chicken in batches for 2–3 minutes on the first side and about 2 minutes on the second, until crisp and 165°F inside. Drain on a wire rack.
In a separate skillet, heat the measured tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the thoroughly dried rice cakes and sauté for 2–3 minutes, turning, until golden. Transfer to a plate.
Lower the heat under the rice-cake skillet. Pour the soy-garlic mixture into that skillet, not into the chicken frying oil. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Stir the slurry again, add it and simmer for 30–60 seconds, until the glaze thickens.
Add cooked chicken and rice cakes to the glaze and toss to coat. Finish with peanuts and cilantro and serve promptly.

Let’s cook

The full recipe.

Check off ingredients as you get them ready.

Changing servings? The ingredient list scales automatically. Adjust quantities named in the steps to match, and choose pans and cooking times for your batch.

The Broken Scale