-
1
Pound the coriander root and garlic together in a mortar until a smooth, cohesive paste forms with no visible fibrous strands remaining, because any remaining coarse fibres will sit on the surface of the chicken rather than penetrating the flesh. Combine with the fish sauce, white pepper, and palm sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. The paste should be evenly suspended in the liquid.
-
2
Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly in the marinade, then cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 4 hours — no longer, so the fish sauce seasons the flesh deeply without beginning to cure it to a chalky texture. At the end of the marinating period the surface of the chicken should appear slightly tacky and deepened in colour from the fish sauce.
-
3
Heat the oil in a deep vessel to 160°C and lower the chicken pieces in without crowding, so the oil temperature does not plunge and the pieces steam rather than fry. Fry for 10 minutes; at this stage the interior is cooked through but the surface remains pale, and the oil should maintain a steady, moderate bubble around each piece.
-
4
This is where the dish lives or dies: raise the oil temperature to 180°C and return the chicken for 2–3 minutes, watching the skin closely, because the fish sauce and palm sugar in the marinade drive a deeper, faster colour than plain chicken skin and the window between deep amber-gold and burnt sugar is narrow. The correct endpoint is deep amber-gold — substantially darker than the golden-pale of Western fried chicken; pull the pieces the moment the skin reaches that tone, before it tips toward brown. A pale result means the marinade has not developed; a burnt result means the sugar has crossed over.
-
5
Lift the chicken from the oil and drain briefly. The skin should be audibly crisp when tapped and should remain so for several minutes without softening.