Southern Thai–Style Fried Chicken

Gai tod hat yai, fried chicken from the southern region of Thailand, inspired this recipe, but for ease, we use boneless, skinless thighs cut into strips instead of the typical bone-in, skin-on parts. Toasted spices are added to the marinade so they infuse the chicken with flavor; they’re also dusted onto the pieces after frying for additional seasoning. The chicken is customarily sprinkled with crisp fried shallots after cooking, but we opted out of this garnish, as the spices themselves provide plenty of bold flavor. If you like, you can purchase fried shallots in most Asian grocery stores; scatter them over the chicken just before serving. If you’re not up for making our extra-easy version of Thai sweet chili sauce, serve with store-bought sweet chili sauce, or simply offer lime wedges for squeezing.