Recipe: California Love Fried Chicken Bao
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Hot chicken bao is a concept that I’d been experimenting with for some time now. It started with me wanting to take the components of a Nashville hot chicken sandwich (from the likes of Howlin’ Ray’s, for example) and stuff them all into fluffy, Chinese style steamed buns for no other particular reason than that a fully loaded bao is one of the best food formats. While the most famous version is probably the pork belly gua bao that are popular in Taiwan, these “lotus leaf” bao have become a popular receptacle for all kinds of fillings and I’ve personally also developed a compulsion to stuff all my favorite food combinations inside them (e.g. pastrami sandwiches, Korean-style egg drop breakfast toasts, spicy KFC). For a while, though, I was trapped in the headspace of wanting to perfectly recreate the very best restaurant-quality Nashville hot chicken sandwich where the only thing different was the bun…and that’s when I hit a big block. After all, I haven’t even been to Nashville before! How could I capture such an iconic food when the only place I’ve ever had it was in California?
And that’s when I realized, I needed to make it my own. Make it less about imitating something that already existed and more about the flavor combination that I wanted to capture inside these little bao. What were the ingredients that made sense to me?
One day, while I was looking at Spice Tribe’s pretty California Love bottle, it somehow clicked that this spice blend was exactly what I needed for my backburnered fried chicken bao idea. I didn’t grow up eating a lot of cayenne-heavy Southern spice blends (cayenne is what gives Nashville hot chicken its spicy heat) but the California Love blend felt a lot more familiar to me—probably because it was based on Spice Tribe founder Trent’s own upbringing in California. Though I must still give huge credit to every Nashville hot chicken joint I’ve ever ordered a sandwich from (Howlin’ Ray’s and Starbird are my faves) for the inspiration, the recipe now feels very me.
I really wanted these bao to celebrate how the diverse population of California has had a huge impact on how I create in the kitchen. These are the pieces that you’ll be bringing together to make my California Love Fried Chicken Bao recipe:
Lotus leaf bao: These can be found in the frozen section of an Asian supermarket. You want the ones that are folded, that you can stuff things into; I’ve seen them called “lotus leaf bao” but they probably won’t be labeled that in English. I keep them in my freezer until it is time to steam them and it does not take long in a bamboo steamer to transform them into fluffy pockets.
Fried chicken: I used a very simple technique for battering and frying the chicken, similar to the way I make Chinese-American takeout dishes like sweet and sour pork. You are not going to get a really thick crunchy crust like you would with Southern fried chicken because I thought that would overwhelm the delicately soft texture of the steamed bao; instead, expect a light yet crisp exterior.
The seasoning: The technique I used for applying seasoning to the chicken is taken directly from how Nashville hot chicken is made: a dry spice blend is mixed together and after frying the chicken, some of the hot oil is added to the spices; that seasoned oil paste is then brushed on to the fried chicken. However, instead of the cayenne-heavy seasoning used for Nashville hot chicken, I used Spice Tribe’s California Love all-purpose chile blend as the main component; I loved that it was a tribute to founder Trent’s own memories of growing up in California and cooking with his dad. The blend features California chilies and to me it celebrates the big presence of Mexican cuisine here. To that, I added Korean gochugaru for color and another chili component, but overall these are meant to be mild and approachable, not too spicy.
Cabbage slaw: Here, I once again tapped into Chinese-American cuisine for inspiration—the dressing for this is based on a “Chinese chicken salad” that my dad was really into at a Cantonese-American restaurant we frequented when I was a kid.
Sriracha mayo: A holy unity of practically every Asian-American kid’s two favorite condiments (sriracha + Japanese mayo) to form the ultimate sandwich spread.
Pickles: Because you can’t have a good fried chicken sandwich without pickles.
These satisfying fried chicken bao have a little bit of everything—a little sweetness and just a hint of spiciness in the seasoning blend, a little crunch from the pickles and the chicken batter, creaminess from the mayo, sweet-sour tang from the slaw—all hugged together by those fluffy, pillowy bao.
How to Make California Love Fried Chicken Bao
For the Slaw
4 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp soy sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 small cabbage, finely shredded
1/8 red onion, thinly sliced
For the Chicken
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 – 2/3 cup cornstarch
oil for frying
For the Chicken Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp Spice Tribe California Love blend
2 tbsp gochugaru*
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup hot frying oil
To assemble
8 frozen lotus leaf bao
1/4 cup Japanese mayo
4 tsp Sriracha (or to taste)
Dill pickle chips
*Note: If you want to make these more spicy, substitute in cayenne powder, to your taste.
Procedure
To make the slaw, whisk together rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, and salt. Toss together with the cabbage and onions until everything is coated. Store in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the bao. (Can be made up to 4 hours in advance.)
Cut chicken thighs crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Beat together egg and soy sauce. Combine chicken pieces with egg and soy sauce mixture until everything is coated and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, in a dutch oven, heat enough oil to submerge the chicken pieces.
Pour 1/2 cup cornstarch into a rimmed plate. Remove one of the chicken pieces and allow the excess liquid to drip off, then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch until completely coated. Set aside and repeat until all the chicken is coated in cornstarch, adding more cornstarch to the plate if needed.
The oil is hot enough when you insert a wooden chopstick or spoon into the oil and small bubbles appear. Working in batches and adjusting the heat as needed, deep fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked, about 5–8 minutes. Let fried chicken drain on a rack or paper towels.
While chicken is draining, set up a bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper and place the frozen bao inside, using pieces of parchment paper to keep them from touching. Steam the bao over a wok with simmering water until soft, about 5 minutes. (Or, if you do not have a bamboo steamer, wrap them in damp paper towels and microwave in 30-second increments until soft.)
Transfer chicken to a large tray. Combine all the dry seasoning ingredients in a heat-safe bowl. Then, add the frying oil while it is still hot. Stir together then brush the seasoning mixture onto the chicken until fully covered.
In a small bowl, mix together the Japanese mayo and the sriracha.
To assemble, spread some sriracha mayo on the inside of a bao, then stuff with slaw, 1–2 pieces of chicken, and pickle chips. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Thank you so much to Spice Tribe for sponsoring this recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase high quality spices and unique small-batch spice blends.