Recently KFC and Pizza Hut partnered together to create “Popcorn Chicken Pizza”. I’m sure you’ve seen the foodies all over this. In case you haven’t- well here’s another one talking about it but this time… we’re going to make it at home BUT better. That’s right you heard it here first. This recipe below is 1000% better than the Popcorn Chicken Pizza. Let me tell you why. We’re going to do a Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Pizza featuring a spicy gochujang tomato sauce, crispy Taiwanese popcorn chicken, charred sweet corn, cheesy mozzarella, Japanese mayo, drizzle of honey, and some crispy Thai basil. Trust me when I say this recipe below is ABSOLUTELY life-changing. When I was developing the recipe in my head, I was really focusing on the flavour profiles + textures to create something that super different but delicious. Thank me later.
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Dough (By David Tanis)
- 1 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 4 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Marinade)
- 2 chicken breast (cubed)
- 2 tbsp orange juice sub for lime juice
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup tapioca flour
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Topping)
- 1/4 tsp sichuan peppercorn (crushed)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
Toppings
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- Handful Thai basil washed & dried
- Kewpie mayo
- honey
- 10-12 garlic cloves
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- Combine water, yeast, and a ½ tsp of sugar together- let it dissolve for 2 minutes. Using a stand mixer with the hook attachment: add in flour, salt, olive oil, and mix until the dough comes together(around 5 minutes). The dough may look a little rough but that’s alright.
- Lightly dust a surface with some flour, knead the dough on the surface until it is smooth (3-4 minutes). Cut the dough into 4equal parts. Wrap each dough individually into a resealable zipper bag or into a bowl. Refrigerate overnight for best results.
Preheat pizza stone
- Preheat oven to 500F with pizza stone. You will want to preheat your stone for ~30 minutes prior to using for optimal crust. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can use a cast iron pan.
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken
- Combine cubed chicken, soy sauce, salt, garlic, five spice powder, onion powder, egg white, lime juice, and sugar. Mix together and marinate overnight for best results.
Frying chicken
- Once your chicken has marinated overnight, remove from the fridge 15 minutes before you cook it. Heat up canola oil in a cast iron pan to 350F. Toss chicken with tapioca flour/starch until covered. Let it rest for 5 minutes to develop “beads”.
- Once your oil is heated, carefully add in the chicken and cook on each side for ~2-3 minutes. Remove and strain on a cooling rack. Carefully add in basil and cook for ~5 seconds (have a splash guard on hand). Remove and strain on a cooling rack.
- Combine basil and chicken to a bowl. Toss with Sichuan peppercorn, white pepper, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
Corn
- Using a small pan, heat up 1 tbsp of oil. Add in corn and brown sugar. Cook until slightly charred and caramelized ~3-5 minutes.Remove from heat and set aside.
Gochujang tomato sauce
- In a separate bowl, mix together gochujang and tomato sauce. Set aside.
Assembly
- Remove the pizza dough out of the fridge. Lightly dust your surface and roll out the pizza dough to desired thickness. Carefully remove your pizza stone of the oven.
- Add in 2-3 heaping tbsp of tomato gochujang mixture. Top with shredded mozzarella, layer in chicken, add in 2-3 heaping tbsp of corn, and minced garlic.
- Cook at 500F for 11 minutes until golden brown.
- Top with fried basil. Drizzle with Kewpie mayo and honey. Serve immediately.
Let me know how you enjoy this recipe in the comments below! Stay tuned for more recipes!
xx, CWC
4 Comments
Jess
So good and so creative! Love the blend of chicken and pizza which are my favourite two things to eat.
Sandy P
I could eat this everyday! Can’t wait to try out.
George
BEST SHIZz hANDs DOWN!!
Uniq
DEELICIOUS! That chicken really hit the spot, although I added some of my hot sauce to spice it up!