Crispy fried chicken instead of soggy

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1

I’ve got a recipe that I need to coat some chicken in a batter and fry and the pieces should come out very crispy, but instead they’re coming out kind of soggy.

The recipe calls for sprinkling flour and chinese 5 spice powder over the chicken, and then dipping these pieces in a batter made of 1 1/4 cup flour in 1 cup ice cold water. They are then put in 350 degree vegetable oil and cooked about 3 minutes until they are just done.

When the pieces are cooking, the batter crust seems quite crispy, but when I remove it from the hot oil and put on a paper towel, they quickly turn soft.

Any suggestions what I’m doing wrong? I’d love to get this right.

Thanks

2

I think putting the chicken on paper towels is the culprit. I put fried chicken on a cooling rack to drain rather than on paper towels to keep it crispy.