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Crispy Beer Battered Chicken with Spicy Fish Sauce Glaze

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Crispy Beer Battered Chicken with Spicy Fish Sauce Glaze

This signature Farang dish combines light, crispy British-style beer batter with punchy Thai flavours. I have simplified this recipe slightly to adapt it for home cooking. The combination of palm sugar sweetness, citrus sharpness, and fish sauce umami creates an irresistible glaze that coats our crispy fried chicken.

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 600g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3cm pieces

  • 250g plain flour

  • 150g tempura flour

  • 200ml cold beer (preferably Singha)

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • Vegetable oil for deep frying

For the Glaze

  • 100g palm sugar, roughly chopped

  • 60ml fish sauce

  • 2 limes, juiced

  • 2 birds eye chillies, finely chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

Garnish

Instructions

1. Prepare the Batter

  1. Mix 150g flour, tempura flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl

  2. Slowly whisk in cold beer until you have a smooth batter

  3. Coat the chicken in the spare 100g plain flour with a big pinch of salt

  4. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes

2. Make the Glaze

  1. Heat palm sugar in a small saucepan until melted

  2. Add fish sauce, lime juice, chillies and garlic

  3. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes

  4. Keep warm

3. Fry the Chicken

  1. Heat oil to 180°C in a deep pan or fryer

  2. Coat chicken pieces in the batter

  3. Fry in batches for 4-5 minutes until golden and crispy

  4. Drain on kitchen paper

4. Assemble

  1. Toss hot fried chicken in the warm glaze

  2. Place on serving plate

  3. Top with crispy shallots, fresh chillies, mint and coriander

  4. Serve immediately with burnt chilli dipping sauce

Storage Notes Best eaten immediately. If needed, store unglazed fried chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in a hot oven until crispy before glazing.

Chef's Tips

  • Keep the beer ice-cold for the crispiest batter, add a few blocks of ice on a hot day to keep it chilled whilst frying.

  • Don't overcrowd the fryer - this will drop the oil temperature and make the batter greasy

  • Make extra crispy shallots - they'll keep in an airtight container for weeks

  • For extra heat, double the amount of birds eye chillies in the glaze

I hope you enjoy making this Farang favourite at home - it's a dish that truly represents our style of cooking, where British ingredients meet Thai flavours to create something distinctively ours. If you love this recipe, drop a comment below and let me know how it turned out.

Don't forget to subscribe to sebbyholmes.com for more recipes that showcase our unique approach to Thai cooking in Britain. And if you're in London, come visit us at Farang to try our latest creations. For weekly updates and exclusive recipes, sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram @faranglondon.

Cook Thai, Eat Thai!

Sebby

Head chef & founder of Farang London restaurant. Cookbook author of ‘Cook Thai’ & ‘Thai in 7’. Chief curry paste basher and co-founder of Payst London.