Chicken Lollipop

Making Chicken Lollipop Ahead

Best fresh. Reheat leftovers in a hot oven for 8 minutes rather than a microwave.

Chicken Lollipop: The Method

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1. Cut through the tendons at the narrow end of each drumette and push the meat down the bone into a ball.

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2. Mix the chicken with the ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder, pepper, soy, vinegar and salt.

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3. Marinate 30 minutes.

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4. Stir in the cornflour, plain flour, egg and ketchup to make a thick red coating.

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5. Heat the oil to 170°C / 340°F.

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6. Fry eight lollipops for 5 minutes, holding the bones clear of the oil. Lift onto a rack.

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7. Repeat with the rest, then rest both batches 2 minutes.

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8. Raise the oil to 190°C / 375°F and fry all the lollipops again for 90 seconds, until dark and crisp.

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9. Drain, scatter the spring onions over and serve with the bones pointing up.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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A Few Pointers

• French the wings before marinating, not after.
• Two fries: one to cook, one to crisp.
• Wrap the bone ends in foil if you are serving them by hand.

Why the Method Is What It Is

Frenching the wing is what makes it a lollipop and it takes a knife and thirty seconds each: cut through the tendons at the narrow end, then push the meat down the bone into a ball. Do it before you marinate, not after, because the marinade makes the meat slippery. Fry twice — five minutes to cook through, a two-minute rest, then ninety seconds hot for the crust.

What to Put Next to It

Schezwan sauce for dipping · Sliced onion · Cold beer

If You're Missing Something

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Quick Answers

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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