Crispy Skin Chili Crisp Chicken Thighs

Crispy skinned chicken thighs with homemade chili crisp

Take chicken thighs out of packaging and pat dry.
Take 1/2 tbsp of diamond crystal kosher salt and apply to the skin side and meat side of each chicken thigh.
Put the salted thighs into your refrigerator, skin-side up and allow these to dry brine for at least 2 hours - ideally overnight OR a max of 2 days.

Take your veg - peel and fine mince.
2 large shallots, 4 cloves garlic, 4 whole scallions, greens and whites, 1 large piece of ginger
Heat 2 cups of neutral cooking oil and fry sliced veg individually.
Meaning, fry shallots, strain, and then reheat oil.
Repeat with all veg and set aside.
2 cups avacado oil
To a large pot, add your dry ingredients.
1/4 cup arbol chiles, crushed, 3 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tbsp diamond crystal kosher salt, 1.5 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp MSG, 2 tbsp soy sauce
To the oil add your cracked sichuan peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon stick.
Allow to fry for 1 minute and then remove star anise and cinnamon stick.
2 star anise, 1 stick Cinnamon, 3.5 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
Then pour hot oil into large pot with your dry ingredients.
Mix well.
Allow to cool before transferring to a storage container or mason jar.

The idea here is to elevate the meat above the hot coals so that it doesn’t burn.
Any grill can work but I used my charcoal grill with an elevated grill grate.
Put chicken thighs skin side down for 1 hour.

When you flip, spray the skin with some cooking oil – like avocado oil, olive oil, duck fat, beef fat, etc.
Allow the thighs to grill skin side up for 30 minutes.