The Best Way to Elevate Your Frozen Fried Chicken: Salted Duck Egg Fried Chicken

2020年9月1日
讀畢需時 3 分鐘

已更新：2020年12月15日

How to take your frozen fried chicken to the next level?

Cost: 9/10

Simple: 10/10

Environmentally-Friendly: 9/10

Delicious: 9/10

Hey, friends 👋 We all know that fried chicken is probably one of the best dishes ever. However, frozen fried chicken is usually not as juicy as the freshly fried chicken. To take your frozen fried chicken to the next level, you only need some salted duck eggs, scallions, garlic, and chili. These ingredients elevate your chicken and makes the meat extra flavorful, tender, and juicy.

This recipe also prevents food waste since you can use up the remaining spices in your fridge. Try it yourself now! With this recipe in hand, you can definitely resist the urge of eating out and save yourself a few dollars.

This recipe is super affordable and literally takes no effort to make. With a few simple steps, you can take your bland and mediocre fried chicken to the next level.

Scroll down for the full recipe and photos.

Why Frozen Fried Chicken?

You can definitely fry your own chicken, but most people are too busy for that. It's also more expensive to fry your own chicken. Frozen fried chicken is probably the cheapest and most convenient option if you want to make this dish.

Where Can I Buy Salted Duck Egg?

If you are in Taiwan or other Asian countries, you can find them in the eggs or dry goods section. If you are in Western countries, you are likely to find them in Asian supermarkets.

Do I need any salt?

Of course not. The salted duck egg is preserved in brine and is extremely savory.

Ultimate Saving Tip:

Calculate the cost per item (egg) by dividing the total cost by the number of items. Purchase the product with the cheapest cost per item. While this tip may seem obvious, most people overlook it and choose the product with the lowest overall price (which often come in small quantities). They end up spending more money when they have to purchase more of that ingredient in the future.

The Recipe: Salted Duck Egg Fried Chicken

NT$73.7 / $2.44 (2 servings)

NT$36.85 / $1.21 per serving

Prep time: 10 min.

Cook time: 7 min.

Total: 17 min.

Utensils

Spatula

Non-stick cooking pan

Ingredients and Costs (Total: 6 ingredients)

*400 g of Frozen Fried Chicken: NT$60 ($2)

Some butter: NT$5 ($0.18)

1 Salted Duck Egg: NT$15 ($0.53)

Some scallions: NT$5 ($0.18)

Half a chili: NT$3 ($0.11)

*Some garlic: NT$15 ($0.53)

*The proportions of the ingredients depend on you. If you crave some spiciness, add more chili and garlic. If you love scallions, add more scallions. Be flexible.

NT$103 / $3.61 2 servings

NT$51.5 / $1.81 per serving

*Frozen fried chicken is way cheaper than chicken you get in street food stalls or restaurants (half the price). Just make your own food and you are going to save tons of money. Avoiding eating out is probably the most underrated way of saving money.

*Garlic is an out-of-season ingredient when we made the recipe (September). Buy ingredients that are in season to cut your spending.

Steps

*Microwave/bake/fry the frozen fried chicken (depending on what's at hand).
Separate the egg whites and yolks of the salted duck egg.
Put some butter and salted duck egg yolk in the pan. Cook them until you see bubbles in the pan (which means that the egg yolk and butter have mixed pretty well).
*Throw in the fried chicken, salted duck egg whites, and garlic and stir fry them for about 1 minute.
Top the dish with some scallions and chilis and you are ready to serve. DON'T WASTE ANYTHING, AND ENJOY!

Tips & Notes:

Deep frying the chicken is the best way to maintain the crispiness of the chicken, but it's time-consuming and expensive (consider the greasiness of your kitchen and the amount of oil that you need to use). Microwaving it is probably the cheapest and fastest way.
Just quickly mix everything in the pot. Put the garlic in before you put the scallions and chilis. The order of ingredients matters. If you put the scallions before the garlic, the scallions are going to be soggy while the garlic is too chewy.