Following the Ministry of Health's direction, McDonald's Singapore has closed all of its outlets as a preventative action against Covid-19.
This terrible news, of course, has saddened a lot of Singaporeans.
Because what else can you do during this circuit breaker period than to nua at home and feast on some artery-clogging goodness?
Nothing can replace McSpicy
One can get beef burgers, nuggets and fries from other fast food restaurants.
But McDonald's hold a special place in many people's hearts arguably because of one special burger: The McSpicy.
Since I can't get my hands on the OG McSpicy in the near future, I might as well try to make my own.
Winging it
There were no suitable recipes online, so I had no choice but to wing it.
Here are the ingredients I used to yield four servings:
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- One cup of sifted corn flour
- Three to five tablespoons of chilli powder
- Two tablespoons of garlic powder
- Two tablespoons of onion powder
- Two chilli padi, sliced finely
- One teaspoon of cumin powder
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- White black pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Wet ingredients:
- One cup of buttermilk
If you can't find buttermilk in stores, substitute it with a mixture of a cup of milk and a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes before using it.
- Liberal drops of chilli oil*
Patty:
- Four chicken thigh, preferably with skin on**
Pre-frying:
- One cup of sifted corn flour
- One tablespoon of chilli powder
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- White black pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Others:
- One egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- Burger buns***
* Ideally, I would add some chilli oil, but the two supermarkets in my neighbourhood ran out of them.
** I used chicken breast because the same supermarkets I went to ran out of chicken thighs.
*** The supermarkets also had no more burger buns. Or other kinds of bread, for that matter. Sigh.
Don't bulk buy food items, please. You can still go out to buy essential goods like food and groceries.
Making the batter
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
This was before I added heaps of chilli powder and chilli padi.
Slowly add buttermilk until you get a thick, condensed milk-like consistency.
Add chilli oil.
Taste the batter and add more seasoning as desired.
Before adding the chicken into the batter, make some incisions on the chicken so it will marinate better.
Coat the chicken well in the batter and let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
(Please clingwrap the bowl first before storing it in the fridge. I think it's more hygienic.)
Personally, I let it marinate for about 12 hours, but six hours should suffice.
Frying the chicken
Mix the pre-frying ingredients in a bowl.
Coat the marinated chicken in the pre-frying mixture.
Dip coated chicken in beaten egg and then coat it once again in the pre-frying mixture.
Deep fry chicken in hot oil until golden brown.
Verdict?
Expectation:
I miss you. :(
Reality:
Why does it look like KFC?
Does it taste like the McSpicy?
It doesn't exactly taste like the McSpicy, mainly because I used the leaner and drier chicken breast instead of the juicier and fattier chicken thigh.
It is tasty but lacks the fatty flavour one would usually get from a chicken thigh and the little skin attached to it.
The type of chicken really, really matters.
That being said, the chicken breast was surprisingly tender and juicy even though it looks like this:
Surprisingly tender.
It was also crispy like the OG McSpicy.
Is it spicy?
From a scale of one to 10 (one being not spicy and 10 being immediately laosai), it is a decent seven.
It is fairly spicy but it lacks a kick owing to the absence of chilli oil.
Is it affordable?
I had all the ingredients at home except for milk (for the buttermilk) and two chicken breasts.
Milk: S$2.75
Two chicken breasts: S$5
Total: S$7.75
That costs slightly less than a McSpicy Extra Value Meal and yields four servings.
Would I do it again?
It's a fairly easy recipe.
I would make it again if I'm craving for it, provided I have access to all the ingredients.
Overall, I would say it's not bad for a substitute.
But here's a fair warning: It still can't hold a candle to the OG Mcspicy. :(
Top image from McDonald's S'pore & Fasiha Nazren.