Yan su ji is the night-market deep-fried chicken snack: marinated boneless chicken pieces fried with basil leaves, dusted with house pepper and chilli salt.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Salt and pepper chicken is a Taipei night-market staple, the boneless cousin to Hot Star's larger fried-chicken cutlet. The dish came from 1980s Taipei street culture as cheap fried protein dusted with five-spice salt. Almost every night market in Taipei has multiple yan su ji counters; the Bib Gourmand-listed ones rotate through Tonghua and Shilin night markets.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. Sweet-potato starch is what gives the crackly crust; cornflour alone gets too smooth. The basil is the night-market signal; don't skip it.
Shilin Night Market is Taiwan's largest, 500-plus stalls. Hot Star fried chicken, stinky tofu, ai yu jelly and the reopened underground food court.
Tip: Open 16:00-24:00 daily. Take MRT Tamsui-Xinyi to Jiantan Station, walk 5 minutes.
Tonghua-Linjiang Night Market is the locals' Da'an strip with about 200 stalls in a residential zone, Bib Gourmand listings for stinky tofu and tangyuan.
Tip: Open 18:00-01:00 daily. MRT Xinyi Anhe, Exit 1; 5-minute walk.
More cities are in research. Want salt and pepper chicken covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.