Taiwanese popcorn chicken

Chicken second courses

This is an all-time favorite of ours from our visit to Taipei and its vibrant night markets. Juicy, crunchy, and full of umami yet slightly sweet (and fiery spicy if you prefer!), this dish gave totally new meaning to popcorn chicken for me. One note on specialty ingredients: You can usually find Taiwanese white pepper salt (sometimes labeled as Taiwanese salt and pepper chicken seasoning) in Asian supermarkets, but if you're finding it hard to track down, combining 2 parts salt, 1 part white pepper and 1 part black pepper will serve as a reasonable substitute.