Time 30 minutes, plus 1 hour marinating

Serving 4–6

• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 cups vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns or whole black peppercorns
• 1 cup/115 grams tapioca flour
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves

Step 1
In a large bowl, season chicken thighs with soy sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, white pepper and 2 teaspoons salt. Set aside to marinate about 1 hour at room temperature, or refrigerate it overnight.

Step 2
When ready to cook, fit a medium pot with a cooking thermometer and heat vegetable oil over medium to 350 degrees. Coarsely grind the peppercorns in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and mix with the remaining 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Set aside.

Step 3
Wet your hands and toss marinated chicken with tapioca flour and about 1 tablespoon water until the tapioca flour looks like small beads and clings to the chicken. (Adding a little moisture to your chicken helps the tapioca flour form small beads that will also stick to the chicken and give it a very crunchy crust.)

Step 4
Working in batches, add the battered chicken to the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon or spider, transfer fried chicken to a paper towel-lined plate and season each batch with peppercorn mixture.

Step 5
Fry basil leaves until translucent and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes, then scatter over the fried chicken. Serve with leftover peppercorn mixture for sprinkling to taste.