Aromatic and rich in flavor, with a crispy golden exterior and tender, juicy inside.
The classic and timeless crispy fried chicken drumettes are a traditional Shandong dish. By shaping chicken wing drumettes into little "hammers," coating them in breadcrumbs, and deep-frying until golden and crunchy, they become both fun to eat and delicious. The first time you shape the drumettes, it may feel a bit tedious, but there's no shortcut—just follow the steps patiently. They're wonderful eaten on their own, or you can dip them in salad dressing, ketchup, or your favorite sauce.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
10 chicken drumettes
Chicken drumettes that are on the smaller side work best, as larger ones are harder to cook through when deep-fried.
Additional Ingredients
breadcrumbs to taste
1 egg
Seasonings
2 g salt
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) Shaoxing wine
1 g white pepper powder
2 g sesame oil
Scallions and ginger - to taste
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
Step 1: Slice the scallions and julienne the ginger, then soak them in water for half an hour to make scallion-ginger water (Image 2).
Step 2: Wash the chicken drumettes, then use a knife to cut around the narrow end at the joint (Image 3) to separate the meat from the bone. Push the meat down along the bone, turning it inside out, and gather it into a compact ball (Image 4). The meat attached to one end of the bone forms the chicken hammer (Image 5).
*Be patient when preparing—don't use too much force, or tearing the meat will prevent you from shaping it into a drumstick.
Marinate the chicken drumettes
Marinate the prepared chicken drumsticks with salt, Shaoxing wine, white pepper, ginger-scallion water, and sesame oil, mixing well, then let them marinate for 30 minutes (Image 6).
The flavor of the marinade will be the final flavor of this dish, so be sure to use enough; if the seasoning is insufficient, the aroma won't come through and there may be a fishy taste.
*If you marinate directly with scallions and ginger, the flavor will be uneven; using scallion-ginger water works much better.
Coat with breadcrumbs.
④ Pour breadcrumbs into a plate, beat the eggs (Image 7), dip each chicken drumette first in the egg wash (Image 8), then coat with breadcrumbs (Image 9), and press firmly into a compact ball shape (Image 10).
Crispy Fried Chicken Drumsticks
⑤ Pour plenty of oil into the pot and heat to around 300-350°F (150-180°C), then add the chicken drumettes and fry over medium-low heat for 7-8 minutes until golden brown on the surface. After frying, it's best to place the drumettes on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
*Chicken drumettes are quite thick, so the oil temperature should not be too high, otherwise the breadcrumbs will burn before the chicken is cooked through. Fry over medium-low heat for a while, and when you feel the chicken is almost done, increase the heat to make the surface crispy.
*Breadcrumbs burn easily, especially where they touch the bottom of the pan, so during frying, gently move the chicken drumettes around to prevent any one spot from sitting on the bottom for too long; however, don’t flip them too often, or the breadcrumb coating will fall off.
Flexible application
This method of coating with breadcrumbs before frying works well with many ingredients, as long as they are tender meats such as shrimp, fish fillets, or pork tenderloin.