Taiwanese Chicken Leg Lunch Box is one of my boyfriend’s favorite meals. He actually asked for it multiple times but I kept putting it off since I thought it would take a lot of trial and error to get right – nothing could be further than the truth! It was a raving success the first time, and we couldn’t get enough of it. Taiwanese Chicken Leg has definitely earned its place in our weeknight dinner rotation.
What is Taiwanese Chicken Leg Lunch Box?
Taiwanese Chicken Leg Lunch Box is commonly found in Taiwan. Like many Taiwanese dishes, there’s not much mystery in the name – it’s just as it sounds, chicken with rice and side vegetables. Don’t let the simplicity of the name fool you though – when marinated and broiled properly, it becomes a tasty, well-balanced meal.
Why this recipe?
Convenience! Actually, if you Google Translate “便當” the translator will return “convenience”. Of course, the term actual refers to the convenience of a pre-made lunch box, but this recipe is honestly very convenient as well:
- It can be easily meal-prepped by marinating and freezing the meat for later
- Hands off cooking process, thanks to the air fryer! Also, minimal cleaning because the oil spray from frying is contained in the air fryer instead
- Pairs well with many vegetable dishes, letting it slide easily into any meal to make it balanced
Traditionally, the chicken is fried with lots of oil. I try to avoid frying recipes at home so these instructions are for air frying the chicken instead. Of course, if you don’t have an air fryer you can still fry it or try baking in the oven.
Taiwanese Chicken Leg is a great weeknight meal because it’s easy to prepare, and even easier to cook. It’s typically eaten with three simple side vegetables. I usually prepare these side dishes while the chicken is in the airfryer, or just prepare them the night before.
Ingredients and Equipment
The key to delicious Taiwanese Chicken Leg is to get good quality chicken. The marinade guarantees the flavor is right, and the cornstarch makes the skin crispy. In Taiwan, Chicken Drumstick is commonly made from chicken quarters, where the thigh and drumstick still connected.
Chicken quarters isn’t always stocked at my local grocery stores, but the good news is either chicken thigh or drumstick works just as well! If you’re using chicken thigh, just make sure that you’re using a piece that still has the bone in it. Chicken thigh with bone tends to retains moisture better when fried.
For the marinade, we’ll be using:
- rice wine
- soy sauce
- five spice powder
- white pepper
- garlic, minced
- cornstarch
Traditionally, Taiwan is fried with lots of oil. I’m don’t like using so much oil at home, so we will air fry the chicken in this recipe instead. You can still fry the chicken over the stove as normal if you don’t have an air fryer.
Cooking Process
The cooking process for this Taiwanese Chicken Leg can be divided into two phases: Marinating Chicken and Airfrying Chicken.
marinating
The grocers in my area are usually pretty good at picking off all the chicken hairs, but I usually still inspect pretty carefully before moving on.
Toss the chicken into a bowl and pour the marinade over the chicken. At the minimum, let the marinade sit for half an hour. I typically let it marinate for 2-3 hours, or even overnight to really let the flavor sink it. Sometimes I’ll even buy some extra chicken drumsticks to marinate and toss in the freezer for an easy weeknight meal later.
If I’m marinating the day of, I’ll just let the meat sit out on the counter unless the house is too hot. This achieves more consistent results because the chicken cooks more evenly.
air frying
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat the airfryer for around 5 minutes at 350F. While waiting for the air fryer to preheat, gently roll the chicken drumstick over cornstarch so that all sides of it are evenly coated. It doesn’t have to be perfect – as you can see from my attempt below, mine actually turned out quite patchy. ^^” This extra coating is just to give the skin an extra crisp when it fries – since we already included cornstarch in the marinade, the skin should already be crispy enough so this is just a little additional insurance.
[picture of chicken with cornstarch]
I cheat and use my fingers to patch up the bald spots.
[picture of patting chicken]
Place the chicken in the airfryer basket with as little overlap as possible.
[picture of chicken in airfryer basket]
Flip the chicken after ten minutes, before continuing to cook. This ensures that the chicken will be beautifully browned from every angle. (Pardon the poor quality of the photo – I was in a rush to get it back in the the air fryer after flipping ^^”)
Cook times will vary, so use a thermometer to make sure you don’t under or overcook the chicken. In my experience, I’ve found that chicken thighs will typically take around 20-25 minutes, and drumsticks will take around 15 minutes. I’ll usually use this downtime to quickly stir-fry some vegetables to go on the side (if you need ideas, check out my Braised Bamboo[link] or Carrot-Corn Stir-fry recipes! [link]).
As soon as the chicken temperature reaches 165F or higher, it’s ready to be served! If you’ve gone above 200F, you’ve gone too far – either reduce the heat next time or remove from heat sooner.
final thoughts on Taiwanese Chicken Leg
Taiwanese Chicken Leg Lunch Box is a simple, but delicious dish! We hope that our instructions were helpful and you’ll be able to make this Taiwanese meal for your charitable bellies at home!
As promised, here is a list of side dishes that pair will with this main course:
- Braised Bamboo
- Stir-fried Corn and Carrots
Taiwanese Chicken Leg Lunchbox
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs or drumsticks
- 2 T rice wine
- 1 T soy sauce
- ¼ t five spice powder
- ¼ t white pepper
- 1 t garlic minced
- 3 T cornstarch
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken using the rest of the ingredients, reserving half the cornstarch for later. Marinate for half an hour to three hours.
- Preheat the air fryer for five minutes. While waiting, gently roll the marinated chicken in the remaining cornstarch to coat the skin. Gently brush or spray with oil.
- Place chicken into the air fryer basket, avoiding any overlap to allow more even frying. Air fry for 10 minutes, then flip.
- If using chicken thighs, continue frying for another 10-15 minutes; if chicken drumstick, continue frying for another 5 minutes. Serve hot with vegetables and rice!
