Author: Susanne at dishwithme.com
This recipe for Paper Wrapped Chicken is nothing short of amazing! It is seriously good.
As a tween and teenager in Northern California, my family used to frequent a Chinese restaurant in Citrus Heights. It was a buffet, but not a typical buffet. This buffet had amazing choices prepared just right. One of those choices was paper wrapped chicken.
Another amazing thing they served on the buffet was Char Siu (those delicious red slices of pork loin), which I recreated and have already shared with you. Both are delicious!
Here is the thing about preparing Chinese food…none of it is hard, but it is almost always very time consuming. I tell you this so that you don’t set out to prepare something like this on a work night, instead you might consider saving it for a non-work night.
Even better than saving this for a non work night, I prepare these bad boys in stages. I slice the chicken into thin pieces and marinate it for about 24 hours. Then when I have some free time (usually in the morning) I wrap them and store them in the refrigerator. This way all I have left to do is cook them in the evening.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR PAPER WRAPPED CHICKEN
For this recipe, I don’t cut the chicken into chunks. Instead, I remove any fat from the chicken breast, then I lay it flat on a cutting board, then place the knife at an angle and sort of shave off little pieces. So, instead of laying just one chunk, or cube onto the foil, I place several little pieces.
Cut foil into squares. To fold the foil after placing the chicken in the middle of the square, simply fold the corner closest to you to the top corner and then make several folds on each side towards the middle and fold the 2 bottom corners in. You should end up with a triangle shape. There is a picture in the instructions section.
I have cooked these paper wrapped chicken packets two different ways many times over the years. I have baked them and I have fried them. Both ways are good. Baking them is the easiest method. Frying them takes longer.
The last time I made these tasty chunks of deliciousness, I made everyone cast a vote and explain what they liked better and why. Everyone voted unanimously that the fried method produced superior results.
As you can see in the photo above, frying them sort of caramelizes them, which gives them a better flavor. The easiest and quickest way to fry them is in a deep fryer. This is the fryer I have. One really big selling point for me is that it filters the oil and has a container to save the oil in.
GROCERY LIST
- Chicken breasts
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Sesame oil
- Whisky
- Chicken broth
- Dark brown sugar
- Chinese 5-spice
- Sesame seeds
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Corn starch
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh garlic
- Green/spring onions
LINKS TO OTHER RECIPES
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LINKS TO PRODUCTS USED
Using a deep fryer like this one will make cooking this recipe much, much easier.
Use a baking tray lined with foil and then paper towels and a cooling rack like this to drain and make cleanup a breeze.
Equipment
- Deep fryer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Chicken breasts sliced in thin wafer pieces
- 1/4 cup Soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons Whisky I used Canadian whiskey
- 1 Tablespoon Chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon Dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds
- 30 grinds Freshly ground black pepper medium grind
- 2 teaspoons Corn starch
- 1 inch Piece of fresh Ginger grated
- 4 cloves Fresh garlic grated
- 3 Green onions very finely chopped
Instructions
- Remove all visible fat from chicken breasts.
- Place chicken breasts on a cutting board. Place the knife at an angle and shave little pieces of chicken off and add it to a large zippered bag.
- In a medium bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the marinade to the chicken in the zippered bag. Squeeze the air out and zip the bag. Massage the chicken so that all of it is coated with the marinade. Store in the refrigerator.
- Every few hours give the chicken another massage to make sure the marinade is well distributed. Continue this while the chicken is marinating.
- When ready to wrap the chicken, make squares out of aluminum foil, approximately 6×6. You will need roughly 30 to 40 pieces of foil. Lay the foil out all over the place.
- Next, lay pieces of chicken in the middle of each foil square.
- To fold the foil after placing the chicken in the middle of the square, simply fold the corner closest to you to the top corner and then make several folds on each side towards the middle and fold the 2 bottom corners in. You should end up with a triangle shape.
- Place the packets in a bowl or bag and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- When ready to cook, deep fry at 350 degrees F for 4 to 6 minutes. Or bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is completely cooked. If fried, remove the packets from the fryer and drain on a paper towel lined baking tray.
