Chilis’ Chicken Crispers Copycat Recipe (Step-by-Step for Dummies 101)

My family’s favorite fried comfort food restaurant is indisputably Chilis – specifically their Chicken Crispers w/ shucked corn and mashed potatoes, and their uber delicious Molten Chocolate Cake (I can dream about this all day long). Unfortunately, I am definitely NOT confident in my dessert making skills (that’s more my sister’s forte), but I was itching to try my hand at the Chicken Crispers. How hard could it be?

Apparently, not very hard at all! Read on for a detailed step-by-step recipe for a delicious Chilis’ chicken crispers meal at 1/3 of the price!

 

DELECTABLE FOOD FOR THE DAY: CHILIS’ CHICKEN CRISPERS (Copycat recipe)

DIFFICULTY: Moderately easy, BUT deep frying can be dangerous so just be careful

SERVING SIZE: Good for 3-4 people

PREPARATION AND BAKING TIME: 3 hours (the time to deep fry takes sooo long. I’ve realized this is my LEAST preferred cooking method)

 

INGREDIENTS

Batter

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup self-rising flour (if you’re making this on your own, you need: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

 

Chicken

• 1 kg chicken, sliced into strips (~20 strips once sliced)
• Oil for deep-frying

 

Vegetables

• 500g of whole kernel corn
• 2 pieces of carrots, diced

 

Honey mustard dressing

My family LOVES our sauces so I made a lot! Feel free to use less depending on how much you like dipping into the sauce

• 1 cup mayonnaise (or 220 mL Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise)
• 3/8 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons mustard

 

PROCEDURE:

STEP 1: Prepare the chicken batter

• Crack one egg into a bowl and beat it. Apparently, beat does NOT mean mix. It’s this circular motion you make with your wrist, but the fork moves up and down, instead of forward/backward. You do this motion really fast.

• Afterwards, pour 1/4 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup chicken broth, salt and pepper into the same bowl. Whisk for ~30 seconds to dissolve the salt. Whisk is pretty much the same motion that you did for egg beating.

• Once that’s done, whisk in your self-rising flour. If you don’t have this readily available, you can instead pour the following instead: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until it’s well-mixed.

• Let the batter sit for 5mins or more.

• In a separate bowl, place 1/2 cup all purpose flour. This will serve as the layer between the chicken AND the “skin batter”, so that when you slice into the chicken crisper, the “skin” is not stuck to the chicken itself

STEP 2: Prepare the chicken

• Slice the whole chicken into strips. You may find some cartilage or bone in the chicken – gently remove these

• Heat the oil in the fryer, until it’s sufficiently hot

• Now, time to get frying! Bring out the chicken strips, batter and flour
  • First, coat a chicken strip with the all purpose flour

• • Second, dunk the flour-coated chicken strip into the pre-prepared batter

• • Once done, drop the chicken into the fryer

• When one side of the chicken starts looking golden brown (I timed it, took around 2-3 minutes), flip over to the other side. Once the whole thing is golden brown, you can drain the fried chicken strips of the oil first before placing onto a plate. If you don’t drain the oil, you would want to place a paper towel on the plate in order to soak the oil from the chicken.

• In case you have extra batter, just drop the excess into the fryer as well, and you’ll get these delicious-looking donuts. You can then serve like this – or sprinkle sugar over them for a tasty snack

STEP 3: Prepare the vegetable sides

• It’s up to you what you’d prefer to have for the sides. Personally, I love buttered corn and carrots, so that’s what I did
• First, drain the whole kernel corn from the can. Keep the strained corn juice – you can drink this

• Afterwards, dice the carrot into cubes

• Place butter onto the pan (substitute for oil), then place the carrots first so you can cook it. I placed some salt and pepper to add more flavor as well.
• Once cooked, time to pour the corn into the pan. Keep moving it. Taste test to check if it’s sufficiently cooked and flavored

STEP 4: Prepare the honey mustard dressing

I LOVE this sauce, and it’s so easy to make. What a revelation!

• Place 1 cup mayonnaise, 3/8 cup honey, and 3 tablespoons mustard into the sauce bowl. Mix well and serve

 

STEP 5: Bon Appetit!