When McDonald’s announced it was closing its stores till 4 May 2020, the collective horror we all felt was palpable across the island. What do you mean there are no more nuggets at 1am? Or my fluffy Egg McMuffin in the morning (or all day)? Most of all, what about our ever-popular, crunchy McSpicy?
‘Say it isn’t so!’ you cry, but it is.
While we’re lamenting the loss of McDonald’s, we have come up with a recipe to replicate the satisfying McSpicy Burger that you can make right at home. While it might seem to involve a lot of spices, I promise that is the only tedious part.
If your neighbourhood supermarket has run dry, you can try sourcing for these ingredients at these alternative supermarkets or harness the power of the Internet to get them delivered to you straight. Even though nothing—and I mean nothing—will ever replace our beloved McSpicy, this is a pretty good dupe to pass the time.
I’ll admit that this seems to require more steps than our usual recipes, but the key is to prepare all the ingredients first rather than when the step calls for them. If your commitment to Mickey D’s is as steadfast as you say, you wouldn’t mind going the extra mile.
Just a note about the ingredients: I feel that you must use Lingham’s Chilli Sauce (Extra Hot). This chilli is no joke, and will replicate that fieriness that a McSpicy patty offers.
Ingredients
- 2 boneless chicken thighs
- 2 heads of butterhead lettuce or iceberg lettuce
- 2 hamburger buns of your choice
- A dollop of mayonnaise
Marinade
Dry (Divide into 2 when done)
- 4 tablespoons of paprika
- 1 tablespoon of chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1/4 tablespoon of brown sugar (regular white sugar is fine too)
Wet
- 1/4 cup of light soy sauce
- 1/ 4 of hot sauce (I used Lingham’s Chilli Sauce (Very Hot), but use any you have on hand)
Egg Wash
- 1 can of tonic water/soda water
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 1 mashed up chilli padi
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of chilli powder
Optional – for spice fiends
- 1 tablespoon of chilli sauce (or more if you like)
Flour Mixture
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 of the spice mixture
Tools
- A heavy-based pot that is good for deep-frying
- Cooking oil
- Chopping board
- Knife
Recipe Preparation
Preparation time: 20 minutes + overnight; Cooking time: 30 minutes
Feeds two
- Measure out ingredients for the dry and wet marinade, and set them aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients together. Divide into half and set one half aside.
- Mix one half of the dry marinade with the soy sauce. Whisk well to combine.
- Place boneless chicken thighs into the marinade and coat evenly.
- Leave to marinate for 20 minutes or longer. Best if you can leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
- While the chicken is marinating in the refrigerator, you can prepare the oil to deep-fry the chicken.
- After 2o minutes (or overnight), take marinated chicken thighs out of the fridge and let them warm to room temperature.
- In a separate dish, mix remaining spice mixture with flour and set aside.
- Prepare your egg wash. The mixture should resemble a thin pancake batter. Fair warning: the soda water will cause the mixture to be foamy, so use a big bowl.
- Optional: Add more chill sauce if you wish.
- Test the temperature of the oil with a wooden chopstick. If the oil is hot enough, you’ll see bubbles forming where the chopstick is submerged in the oil.
- Let the dredging begin. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off the excess as best as you can.
- Coat lightly in seasoned flour. Shake off the excess.
- Dip in the chicken in the egg wash. Use separate hands to avoid cross-contamination—-if you have some gloves that’s even better.
- Shake off the excess, and try to get a thin coat of egg wash. That’s how you get those craggy crispy bits that we all love.
- Dredge in the seasoned flour again. Be as gentle and nimble as you can, so as to not rub off the coating.
- Place chicken into the oil, facing away from you. The chicken should start bubbling immediately. Depending on the size of your pot, only place one thigh at a time or two at most. You don’t want to lower the temperature of the oil too much.
- Fry for about 7 minutes or until the chicken is light brown. When the chicken floats, flip to ensure even colour.
- In the meantime, slice the butterhead lettuce or iceberg lettuce into thin strips and set aside. To get them extra crisp, place them in the refrigerator.
- Cut your buns in half and butter them lightly on each side. Toast them on a dry frying pan.
- Remove chicken from oil and cool for a couple of minutes.
- Now you are ready to assemble your McSpicy Burger dupe.
- Start with the bottom bun, chicken, lettuce, followed by a generous dollop of mayonnaise. Finally, top with your toasty burger bun.
Recipe (In Pictures)
Step 1: Measure out ingredients for the dry and wet marinade and set aside.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients and divide into half and set one half aside.
Step 3: Mix one half of the dry marinade with the soy sauce. Whisk well to combine.
Step 4: Place boneless chicken thighs into the marinade and coat evenly.
Step 5: Leave to marinate for 20 minutes or longer. It’s best if you can leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
Step 6: While the chicken is marinating in the refrigerator, you can prepare the oil to deep-fry the chicken.
Step 7: After 2o minutes (or overnight), take marinated chicken thighs out of the fridge let them warm to room temperature.
Step 8: In a separate dish, mix remaining spice mixture with flour and set aside.
Step 9: Prepare your egg wash. The mixture should resemble a thin pancake batter. Fair warning: the soda water will cause the mixture to be foamy, so use a big bowl.
Optional step: Add more chill sauce if you wish.
Step 10: Test the temperature of the oil with a wooden chopstick. If the oil is hot enough, you’ll see bubbles forming where the chopstick is submerged in the oil.
Step 11:Let the dredging begin. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off the excess as best as you can.
Step 12: Coat the chicken lightly in seasoned flour. Shake off the excess. Use separate hands to avoid cross-contamination—if you have some gloves that even better.
Step 13: Dip the chicken in the egg wash. Shake off excess, and try to get a thin coat of egg wash. That’s how you get those craggy crispy bits that we all love.
Step 14: Dredge in the seasoned flour again. Be as gentle and nimble as you can, so as to not rub off the coating.
Step 15: Place chicken into the oil, facing away from you. The chicken should start bubbling immediately. Depending on the size of your pot, only place one thigh at a time or two at most.
You don’t want to lower the temperature of the oil too much. The chicken will fry for about 7 minutes or until it’s light brown. When the chicken floats, flip to ensure even colour.
Step 17: In the meantime, slice the butterhead lettuce or iceberg lettuce into thin strips and set aside. To get them extra crisp, place them in the refrigerator.
Step 18: Cut your buns in half and butter them lightly on each side. Toast them on a dry frying pan.
Step 19: Remove chicken from oil and cool for a couple of minutes.
Step 20: Now you are ready to assemble your McSpicy Burger dupe. Start with the bottom bun, chicken, lettuce, followed by a generous dollop of mayonnaise.
Finally, top with your toasty burger bun.
There you have it, a McSpicy Burger that came out of your kitchen. This was spicy and crunchy, and I dare say that it was a pretty close rendition of the McSpicy. Savoury, tangy with just the right amount of heat—I was thoroughly impressed.
Of course, nothing will take the place of the McSpicy Burger but I do think this is a pretty good dupe. If you want to take it a step further, I would suggest brining the chicken thighs first, to really get them juicy and succulent. It’s an extra step for sure, though we have nothing but time now, right?
What’s more, you can even get a more bourgeois bun and continually improve the recipe. The possibilities are endless, till we wait for our Golden Arches to open their doors again.
It’s time to unleash your inner MasterChef and flex in the kitchen.
Expected Damage: S$5 – S$6 per portion
