香香鸡块 (NT$80) — Taipei popcorn chicken!
Taipei night market 香香鸡块 (popcorn chicken / xiang xiang ji) NT$80. Sweet-potato-flour-battered bite-sized chicken with five-spice salt and basil leaves.
Taipei night market snack with BB — 香香鸡块 (popcorn chicken / xiang xiang ji) at NT$80. The Taiwanese street snack that defines the night-market munching experience.
We ordered:
- 香香鸡块 — NT$80
Taiwanese popcorn chicken (xiang xiang ji) is the night-market standard. Boneless chicken thigh marinated in soy, garlic, and five-spice powder, then dredged in sweet potato flour and deep-fried at high heat until the surface crackles into a crispy golden-brown shell while the interior stays juicy. Tossed at the end with five-spice salt and a handful of fresh basil leaves that crisp up briefly in the residual heat from the fry.
The sweet potato flour coating is the key differentiator from American-style fried chicken. Sweet potato starch produces a thicker, crackling-crisp texture that holds up against the residual heat and stays crispy in the takeaway cup longer than wheat-flour coating would. The slight sweetness from the starch also provides the subtle background flavour against the heavily-seasoned salt.
The five-spice salt is the headline seasoning. Toasted Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, fennel, cinnamon, clove, all ground with fine salt. The salt clings to the crispy coating, providing the proper Taiwanese five-spice flavour profile that defines the dish.
The fresh basil leaves crisp up in the residual fry-oil heat, becoming the crispy-leafy aromatic component. The basil-flavour-meets-crispy-chicken combination is the entire eating experience.
This stall’s version was the proper format. Generous portion of chicken pieces in a paper cup, with the basil leaves scattered through and the five-spice salt evenly coating each piece. Crispy texture intact, chicken inside still juicy and tender.
NT$80 (~SGD $3.60) for the portion is honest night market pricing.
Night market eating in Taipei is the small ceremony of snacking through multiple stalls across the evening. The popcorn chicken is one of the dependable rotations that earns the queue at every visit.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent Taipei popcorn chicken — would queue again.
