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.

While surfing the net a few days ago, I discovered Pinoy Food Blog. Along with other fabulous meal ideas all presented without unnecessary frou-frou, I found Max’s secret for chicken in her extensive recipe archive. The chicken was fabulous~crispy on the outside, tender and juicy in the inside. The steaming process partially cooks the chicken that frying time is considerably decreased. Also, the double-frying step really crisp the skin. I will try this trick the next time I cook my lechon kawali. I really wish I have better photography skills so I could have captured the light crackling of the chicken’s skin from the deep-frying.

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

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
cooking oil

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 let cool.

For extra crispiness, re-fry 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:

Chicken Curry

 

 

 

Crispy Fried Chicken