I Finally Found My Forever Fried Chicken Recipe

Fried chicken is my love language. It’s what I make for friends and family when I want to tell them how much I love them, when I want to cement a friendship, or when I want to impress the heck out of someone. It’s a time (and cleaning) commitment, so when I make a fried chicken recipe, it better be great. 

I found my forever fried chicken with Chef Sheldon Simeon’s Mochiko fried chicken recipe. With a sweet-spicy marinade, shatteringly crisp crust, juicy meat, and a faster than usual cooking time, it is the best fried chicken recipe I’ve ever tried. There’s a reason he sells 300 pounds of it a day at his restaurant Tin Roof in Maui! 

The recipe comes from the Top Chef finalist’s book Cook Real Hawai’i—it's easily one of my favorite cookbooks of the last decade. The book is packed with brilliant recipes that really work like Pan Sushi Dynamite, creamy Kim Chi Dip, and Crispy Black Bean Butterfish to name a few. My favorite recipe from the book is the cover recipe Mochiko Fried Chicken. 

Like all of his recipes, Simeon clearly lays out tips, secret ingredients, and revelations that make his fried chicken shatteringly crisp, umami packed, and worth every step. Sadly, I can’t get to Maui but once a decade, so I make his recipe at home for the people I like.

Two Steps to Perfect Fried Chicken

There’s a number of smart choices in this recipe that add up to success. Simeon uses skin-on, boneless chicken thighs for his recipe so the chicken cooks evenly inside and out in five to six minutes. That’s smart, because frying bone-in chicken takes lots more time. If you end up buying large chicken thighs, you may want to cut them in half crosswise for easier frying.

Simeon also marinates the meat in a spicy mixture of gochujang, sugar, egg, soy sauce, sake, and mochiko, because it adds a pleasantly chewy texture and airy crispness. Mochiko, sometimes labeled sweet rice flour, is a fine flour made from glutinous rice. It’s the same ingredient found in butter mochi, the chewy rice flour-based dessert. Don’t be tempted to use regular rice flour, which is made from medium or long grain rice. Look for small boxes of mochiko flour wherever Hawaiian or Asian ingredients are sold (Simeon recommends Koda brand).

Do plan ahead, as the longer you marinate the chicken in the sticky marinade, the deeper the flavors will work into the meat and tenderize it. He says at least four hours at least, but I really noticed a difference when the chicken is left in the marinade overnight.

The second step in Simeon’s formula is to dredge the meat in a mixture of all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and garlic salt. This second dip creates delectably craggy edges that complete the crispification. Frying in a few inches of oil, not overcrowding, and letting the chicken drain on a wire rack for a few moments all contribute to the dish’s perfect texture.

Chef Simeon dresses up the classic Hawaiian plate lunch meal by perching the chicken on top of steamed short grain rice and drizzling it with homemade gochujang aioli and a sweet miso sauce, both are four-ingredient easy wins, but sriracha mayo works in a pinch. To garnish, he adds homemade fried garlic, furikake (Japanese sesame and nori condiment), and crushed rice crackers.

While I love all the maximalism of the dish with all those whistles and bells, I sometimes serve this fried chicken with a few “plate lunch” side dishes (see below), all the better to focus on the golden, crackling glory of the chicken itself.

My Tips For Success

• Cut the chicken thighs in half crosswise if large.
• Take the temperature of the oil frequently and adjust the heat as necessary. 
• Don’t overcrowd the chicken, I fry one to two smallish pieces at a time and let the oil recover to 350°F before adding another batch.
• The author gives a five to six-minute cook time, but results vary by size of the thighs and the temperature of the oil. It’s better to check the temperature of the meat with an instant read thermometer; chicken is safe at 165°F. 
• Put the cooked fried chicken on a rack set on a baking sheet and hold it in a low (200°F) oven while you fry all the remaining pieces.

What To Serve With Mochiko Chicken

While mochiko chicken is great on plain short grain rice, I like to lean into the Hawaiian spirit and serve it with other plate lunch dishes as well. A simple finely shredded cabbage salad or a green salad are also good accompaniments for the richness of the chicken as well.

• Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
• Quick Kimchi
• Yamitsuki Cabbage
• Salmon Poke