The Secret Recipe of Max’s Restaurant Fried Chicken
During the first couple years of our marriage, my husband and I spent our Friday nights at the Cerritos branch of Max’s Restaurant. The place offered sitdown food service and karaoke bar so every time we visited, my husband would sing “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”, I would sing “End of the World”, and we would duet on “Can you Feel the Love Tonight” while we enjoyed a dinner of fried chicken, chop suey and steamed rice. Ahh, good times, good times. In the late 1990’s, however, Max’s was uprooted from that location and the grapevine was left to speculate on the whys of their departure. From lagging patronage, lost lease, to inadequate parking capacity were blamed, but, I say, it is the complaints from the city every Friday night that drove the restaurant away.
Still, terrific as the recipe is, I am one who simply can’t lay-off a good thing as I have soon tweaked the recipe to include minor changes. After massaging in the salt and pepper, I stuffed the chicken’s cavity with chopped onions, garlic, carrots and celery. I also added the same mixture and a sprig of rosemary to the water I used for steaming. I think, these simple additions heightened an already delicious fried chicken recipe.
Makes 4 Servings
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (2 to 3 lbs)
rock salt
freshly-cracked pepper
sprig of rosemary
2 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 head garlic, chopped
water
frying oil, to cover up to at least 3/4 of chicken
Procedure
Wash and pat chicken dry. Massage salt and pepper onto and under skin. Combine garlic, onions, celery and carrots. Stuff the mixture into the chicken’s cavity until full, but not bursting.
Prepare steamer with water. Place remainder of vegetable mixture and rosemary sprig into the water. Steam chicken for around 30 minutes. Remove chicken from steamer, empty cavity and drain well. Discard vegetables.
Deep-fry chicken in very hot oil until lightly browned, turning on sides as necessary. Remove from pan and allow to cool.
Deep-fry again until golden brown. Remove from heat and let stand for around 5 minutes before chopping to serving pieces. This “stand” time prevents the wonderful juices from leaking out of meat.
Serve chopped pieces with atsara, banana catsup, plum sauce or orange dipping sauce.
Chicken and Poultry Recipes in The CookMobile Archive:
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This is no longer secret, diba?
Buking na!
grabe the bst talga ang max’s when it comes fried chicken! sarap to the bones.
Yap! Tender and flavorful to the bone and Max’s!
I think this is not the secret of Max’ Restaurant
Alvin,
It is not the exact secret recipe, of course, but the techniques such as the steaming and double frying step create a chicken as crispy as Max’s. Was the recipe a disappointment? I had good success with it. Let me know how I can help…
is this the exact recipe ba? ng max’s friedchicken?
Mark,
Not the ingredients but the procedures to achieve crispness are.
I want to try this, but what is the oil temperature and how long you cook them
I want to try your recipe, pero liit lang kasi ng kitchen wares ko, pang single lang.. Is it okay if I use Chicken Thighs only?
By the way I am currently working in Japan.
So glad to have found your site.
Thanks!
Hi Nesterio,
I am not sure how hot the oil was but from experience, I know oil is ready for deep-frying if a cube of bread dropped into it rises immediately to the surface. Again, I am sorry I didn’t time how long it took to fry the chicken. Since it is already cooked from the previous steaming, your only objective in the frying is simply to brown and crisp the skin. Hope this helps.
Hi Mae,
I am sure ok ang chicken thighs lang. Adjust na lang cooking time. I am so happy you are finding my site helpful. Thanks.
mali guys sorry it’s reallya secret.
mejo lasang max’s nga ung balat ng chicken pero mejo ung meat nya… dahil ba sa steam un? ano dapat gawin? hehehe