These Chinese Chicken Fingers are crispy, golden, and absolutely to die for. Compared to American-style chicken tenders, they are puffier and crispier and made with a wet batter. If you’ve ever had Chinese takeout, you’ve probably seen these or some sort of variation like fried chicken balls before.

I remember when I was a kid, my brother and I used to hang out at our neighbor's house, and they would order Chinese takeout sometimes. One of the dishes they always ordered was the fried chicken fingers. My family would never order them because my parents did not consider them to be authentic, so the only time I got to eat them was at our neighbor's house.

What I loved most about them was their crispy and puffy shell. The chicken is cut into thin strips, battered, and then deep-fried until golden brown. The puffiness comes from using baking powder or self-rising flour which causes the batter to puff up and separate from the meat.

Batter for chicken fingers

For the batter, I used all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and baking powder mixed with cold water. You want it to be mostly lump-free and thick enough to stick to the chicken. If your batter is runny, you just need to add more flour.

I've found that 1 ¼ teaspoons of baking powder per 1 cup of dry ingredients is the perfect amount of baking powder to puff up the shell. Alternatively, you could use self-rising flour and omit the baking powder altogether as they serve the same purpose.

chicken breast cut into ½-inch thick slices.

piece of chicken being coated in wet batter.

How long to deep-fry?

In my opinion, chicken fingers taste the best after frying for 6-7 minutes. Technically the chicken is fully cooked around 4-5 minutes, but I prefer it to be cooked longer so the shell gets stronger and holds its shape better after frying. You might think the chicken will be dry and overcooked but it actually still tasted really good.

chicken fingers after being dropped into hot oil; their color is still pale white.

golden brown chicken fingers after 6 minutes of frying in oil.

Sweet and sour sauce

Of course this recipe would not be complete without some sweet and sour sauce for dipping. The sauce is very easy to make and is derived from my sweet and sour chicken recipe. Just combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. I opted to use lychee juice for the base liquid, but you could use pineapple juice or even water as well.

spoon lifting sweet and sour sauce from saucepan.

Chinese Chicken Fingers (Takeout style)

These taste just like the ones you get from Chinese takeout. Most recipes use self-rising flour in the batter, but in my experiments, baking powder worked just as good.

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Prep Time 35

Cook Time 6

Total Time 41

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

1 pound chicken breasts (3 or 4 pieces)
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups cold water

Sweet and sour sauce

3 tablespoons ketchup
6 tablespoons brown sugar (firmly packed)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup lychee juice from a can of lychees (or pineapple juice)

Instructions

Cut the chicken breasts into ½-inch thick strips and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk in the cold water until you have a smooth batter. The consistency should be thick enough to coat a piece of chicken but slide off of it slowly. Add extra cornstarch or flour as needed.
Heat about 2 inches of oil to 350°F in a large pot. Working one at a time, dip a piece of chicken in the wet batter, shake off excess batter, then lower it into the hot oil. Fry about 5-7 pieces at a time for 6-7 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil.
For the sweet and sour sauce, combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Enjoy!