Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs or 2 boneless skinless chicken breats, cut into small bite sized pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, minced finely
• ½ tsp ginger, grated
• 1Tb soy sauce
• ½ Tb Asian rice wine, Michu
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp Asian five spice powder
• pinch granulated white sugar
• ¾ tsp coarse salt
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• large pinch ground black pepper
• ¾ cup sweet potato starch
• ¼ cup corn starch
• handful fresh basil leaves
• vegetable oil for deep frying 

directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the sale, white pepper, black pepper.
2. In a larger bowl, mix together the chicken, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, five spice powder, sugar and ¾ of the salt and pepper mixture. Marinate for at least 30 minutes
3. Using a deep fryer, wok or large pot, heat the oil to 350F over medium heat.
4. While waiting for the oil to heat up, mix together the sweet potato starch and cornstarch and coat each piece of chicken with it.  Make sure each piece is well coated.
5. Deep fry the chicken until golden brown and just cooked through, between 2 to 4 minutes.
6. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper lined plate. 
7. If you want extra crispy chicken,  raise the temperature of the oil to about 375F and return the deep fried chicken pieces to the oil until crispy, about 1 minute.
8. Transfer the chicken to a new paper-lined plate and immediately sprinkle with salt, pepper, five spice powder and chili powder or paprika