No flour or breading required for homestyle Pinoy-style fried chicken. Marinated and fried naked, it emerges crispy and ready to dunk in banana ketchup.
If you're looking for American-style, restaurant-grade fried chicken, this isn't the recipe for you. As a true lutong bahay staple for Filipino home cooks, Pinoy-style fried chicken prioritizes simplicity and comfort over everything else.
You won’t need fancy tricks to make Pinoy fried chicken. No buttermilk brines, double-frying, or complex starch combinations. No breading or batter either! This is homey, no-fuss, literal pritong manok made with chicken, a quick marinade, and hot oil.
And the fried chicken marinade: It's just garlic, calamansi juice, and patis. That's it. Ours is heavy on the calamansi, but you can totally adjust the ratio to your liking. However you spin it, there's something about the savory, citrus-y combo that always tastes like home.
We love crispy PFC with garlic rice and a sunny-side-up for chiksilog, the Filipino oyakodon and most underrated silog. Gravy, banana ketchup, or a vinegary sawsawan? Up to you.
Marinate chicken: Combine crushed garlic, calamansi juice, and patis in a large mixing bowl. Add chicken to the marinade, turning to coat. Cover and marinate for 1–2 hours at room temperature.
Fry chicken: Heat neutral oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven to 350°F over medium-high heat. On the side, line a heatproof plate with paper towels.
Remove chicken from marinade. Pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture and prevent splatters while frying.
Once oil is hot, fry chicken in batches, flipping as necessary, until crispy and nicely browned all over, about 8 minutes. Avoid crowding the pot, which can bring down your frying oil temperature. Transfer fried chicken to the paper towel-lined plate, and season with a bit of salt while hot. Repeat with remaining chicken, heating the oil back up to 350°F as needed. Serve hot.
