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Thank you so much for your simple & easy recipe guide Filipino Fried Chicken. I just cooked it for our dinner and my kids love it.
Marlon Bela-ong
One thing I was not expecting to eat so much of during our year in the Philippines = FRIED CHICKEN.
Seriously, Filipinos know and love their fried chicken and I took full advantage of that while living there. The chicken I ordered at Jollibee (kind of like a local McDonald’s) was called Spicy Chicken and it was like KFC fried chicken covered with a spicy seasoning mix. Ohmygosh, dip that in a little gravy and you’re hooked for life. Whoever thought of the spicy chicken thing obviously didn’t care about the heat because when you eat spicy fried chicken in the Philippines, the sweating gets out of control immediately. But no biggie. Anything for spicy fried chicken.
At The Children’s Shelter of Cebu, the orphanage Bjork and I worked at, they would make their own Filipino fried chicken. When I went to watch the aunties make this, I was looking forward to seeing how they would make the breading for the fried chicken, you know, the stuff that makes the skin golden brown and crispy delicious? And then the chicken was in the oil and there was no breading. What? No breading? Doesn’t all fried chicken have breading?
But their version is chicken only, and it’s so cute because they just put it in these giant plastic tubs with the day of the week on it (an essential tool for a chef cooking in a home for 30 kids) with the marinade. And then when it’s been in there long enough – they just know – then it goes in the hot oil for a long bubble bath.
I could talk about fried chicken all day, buuuut I have to go to work. Here’s the CSC Filipino fried chicken that I experienced in pictures. With a few handsome little guys thrown in for good measure at the end. <smile>
Filipino Fried Chicken
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This simple and delicious recipe for Filipino fried chicken comes from the orphanage that I worked at for one year in Cebu, Philippines.
Ingredients
- 2 lb. chicken drumsticks
- 1–2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1–2 teaspoon minced onion
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon seasoning mix (Magic Sarap)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1–2 cups oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the raw chicken in a large bowl. Add the garlic, onion, oyster sauce, black pepper, salt, seasoning mix, egg, and cornstarch. Stir until the chicken is evenly coated.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken, one piece at a time, in the oil. The oil should cover the chicken pieces almost completely and it will bubble gently as the chicken cooks. Continue to fry the chicken until the skin is golden brown and crispy. The exact amount of time you’ll need depends on the temperature of the oil, but the aunties left their chicken in for about 15-20 minutes (a long time!) with the oil over lower heat. Remove from the oil and set on paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat in small batches until all the chicken is fried.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Filipino
Keywords: filipino fried chicken, fried chicken, chicken drumsticks
I did another lil post on this recipe for the Children’s Shelter of Cebu website, where you can also see bajillions of cute kid pictures and read other stories and information about CSC. Check it owt, guys.
I made these wings, just used accent to substitute magic sarap, and soy sauce substituting oyster sauce.
They were delicious and my husband just raved about them.
So glad to hear it, Dee!
I’m a filipino and I can 100% say this is that fried chicken we always have on birthday parties when I was a kid. And I’m glad I found this recipe online. It’s not fancy but it definitely brings back so many happy childhood memories. Thanks for sharing this!
Love hearing this, Paola! Thanks so much for sharing!
This recipe is incredible! The ingredients are cheap and I could easily find them in my kitchen. The combination of the ingredients are perfect. My achi even thought I marinated it. Thank you so much for sharing this. 💟💟
this looks so very good!!!! marinating now-for about 30 mins. i will be trying this out on my son. i can tell just by the ingredients listed this is going to be the bomb-thanks!
Enjoy, Charlotte!
Also had to make a bit of a sub for the magic sarap as we dont have it where I live
This was a awesome! The minced onion and oyster sauce really gave it a great flavour I’ve never had in fried chicken. Mind you I kind of winged the recipe a bit and just did a bunch of minced onion and garlic and poured oyster sauce in without measuring. Also added ginger/garlic paste. Favourite fried chicken I’ve done!
Glad you enjoyed the chicken, Dilly! 🙂
Thank you so much for your simple & easy recipe guide Filipino Fried Chicken. I just cooked it for our dinner and my kids love it.
I love this recipe. It came out delicious!
I tries this its realllyy good ❤❤❤
This chicken sounds fabulous. Do you need to turn it at all while frying, since the oil doesn’t completely cover it? Thanks!
The recipe is very quick and easy with a delicious unending taste. Just that I couldn’t get the magic sarap seasonings in my country area… Thank You for this sweet guide for tasty food
magic sarap, monsodium glutomate????? not good for kids or anyone been banned in restaurants for years i beleive only a flavour enhancer
Sorry I forgot to add my rating in there
I just tried this recipe and it was very spot on like my mom used to make. I made some modifications by using garlic and onion powder (1/4 tsp each), and added a cup more oil. I also left out the cornstarch in the marinade, drained it out, then added about 1 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch at the last second prior to frying over medium heat for 20 minutes. I’m definitely adding this to my recipe book. Thank you!
I just want to know what the spice is they dust on their spicy chicken
Hello I tried this recipe tonite minus the oyster sauce and onion. I added garlic powder, pappys seasoning, and a little chicken bouillon, it was AMAZING!!
Trying to a find a reliable Filipino Fried Chicken Recipe and I think I finally found it. I already add the ingredients on my grocery list. Thank you Lindsay!
where do you find the magic sarap seasoning packs or is there something you can substitute for that ingredient
I’m marinating the chicken now, getting ready to fry the wings tonight for the Superbowl. Go Panthers.
I found the Magic Sarap Seasoning on Amazon.
Maggi makes it. 🙂 🙂 🙂
There it is! I will say, though, I think it’s just MSG. So I wouldn’t really recommend using it unless you want the full experience and you don’t care so much about the MSG part 🙂 I would just use some other seasoning in its place if it were me.
Missed having fried chicken cooked similar to this. I’m from Cebu and so proud of what you guys do to make the lives of orphaned kids over there much better. Honestly and to my ignorance, I didn’t know there is even an orphanage there. What part of the city it is located?
How sweet, thanks for the comment! We sure miss Cebu! It was in Banawa, close to Julie’s Bake Shop and One Pavillion Mall if you know where those are. 🙂
I think I had chicken in Haiti that was very similar to this, and you are right, it is SOOO good! I am definitely going to try this recipe!
Thanks Rachel! Hope you’re doing well!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I’ve always wondered how to cook this myself without Breading Mix. Now, I’m preparing myself Fried chicken for lunch using your recipe. Already pretty hungry looking at your photos. Yum! I’m gonna bookmark your blog for recipes I’d like to try in the future. Thank you and keep sharing!
Love Filipino fried chicken. Having grown up for some part of my life in the Philippines, I have an aversion to overly battered or overly breaded fried chicken. Also, I want to thank you for the wonderful, adorable and heartbreaking photos from the orphanage. It is amazing that the kids are so cheery and the folks who work there care so much about these kids.
THOSE SMILERS ARE THE CUTEST. You’re making me want to go live in the Philippines. Would I survive there if I don’t eat meat?
Yes. Sort of. 🙂 They love their pork and chicken, but there are tons of good veggie dishes too … like monggos!