Air Fryer Prawn Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Gai 虾酱鸡)
Crispy on the outside, juice on the inside, this Air Fryer Prawn Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Gai 虾酱鸡) is a delicious and uniquely flavoured popular fried chicken dish in Singapore.
When ready to air fry, remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour before cooking and let it come to room temperature. Coat marinated chicken with thin layer of corn starch evenly.
corn starch
Pre-heat air fryer at 180C / 356F for at least 3 minutes. Place chicken in the air fryer basket leaving some space between each piece.Brush a thin layer of cooking oil all over the coated chicken pieces.
cooking oil
Air fry at at 180C / 356F for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken halfway during air frying at least once or twice (every 5-7 minutes) to ensure even cooking.
Test the chicken with a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should be at least 74C / 165F. Remove the chicken from the air fryer and serve warm with chilli sauce.
If deep frying over the stove
If you do not use an air fryer, you can deep fry the coated chicken in a pot of oil over medium high heat. Simply heat a pot of oil, enough to cover a few pieces of chicken, over medium high heat. Test the oil readiness by dipping in a pair of metal or wooden chopsticks, if the oil sizzles around the chopsticks, the oil is ready for deep frying. Deep fry a few pieces of chicken at a time. The ideal temperature of oil for deep frying should be between 149-177C / 300-350F,Fry each piece for about 14-15 minutes, turning each piece about half way, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 74C / 165F.