Max’s Style Fried Chicken

The real sarap to the bones! Max’s Style Fried Chicken is a type of Filipino Fried Chicken dish created by the first owners of the restaurant Max, made by cooking the chicken twice, first by steaming it then deep frying to achieve a nice crisp thin layer of chicken skin with very juicy insides.

Max is a family restaurant in the Philippines popular for its Filipino dishes like kare-kare, lumpiang sariwa, crispy pata, tapsilog, liston kawali and their signature dish the Max’s fried chicken. This restaurant makes real good chicken that’s why their slogan says “Sarap to the bones!” (Delicious to the bones!) as their chicken is so crispy on the outside and tender and flavourful on the inside you tend to lick every meat out of the bone.

For a bit of history, it all started in 1945 after World War II when the American troops based in Quezon City became close friends of Maximo Gimenez. These soldiers occasionally visit his house to have drinks until one day they decided to pay for this drinks as it is becoming a regular event. Since then Maximo decided to open a cafe which served chicken, steak and drinks, chicken was usually prepared by his niece called Ruby and this became popular with the American troops and even locals. This began their popularity until they opened up a restaurant that serves Filipino dishes, they named the establishment “Max” after Maximo. Like Goldilocks, Max is a good place to try Filipino recipes and if you want to try them they have branches in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Toronto and Dubai; and take note this is not paid ad I just loved their food and how they try to expose Philippine cuisine to the world.

Cooking this fried chicken is a bit different to the traditional way of pan frying or deep frying it as the first step is to steam the chicken before the frying which tenderizes the meat inside then the quick deep fry will make the skin so crispy. A really good fried chicken recipe which I suggest you try out, when I have this I did not bother eating anything with it, just the chicken alone will give you enough satisfaction.

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Max’s Style Fried Chicken

  • Author: Raymund
  • Prep Time: 2 hours
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 3 hours
  • Yield: 4-5 1x
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Filipino

Description

Max’s Style Fried Chicken is a type of Filipino Fried Chicken dish created by the first owners of the restaurant Max, made by cooking the chicken twice, first by steaming it then deep frying to achieve a nice crisp thin layer of chicken skin with very juicy insides.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Chicken

  • 4 large chicken thighs
  • 1 whole garlic, pounded
  • 6 pcs dried bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup parsley
  • oil

Brine

  • 1 litre warm water
  • 1/3 cup salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

  1. Mix together water, salt and sugar in a large container. Mix until sugar and salt have dissolved.
  2. Place chicken in the brine mixture then refrigerate for 6 hours.
  3. In a steamer add around 4 cups of water, bay leaves, garlic and parsley.
  4. Place the steamer rack the steam the chicken for 45 minutes.
  5. Remove and let the chicken cool down for two hours by placing it in the refrigerator.
  6. Using a deep fryer or a large pot with enough oil, deep fry the chicken for around 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  7. Remove from fryer then place on a wire rack to let the oil drip then serve.

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21 Responses

  1. Looks like there’s double process for this chicken, the steaming and frying but do looks very tempting for me though have not tried before.

  2. What a great way to get juicy and crispy chicken skin – perfect! It was lovely to read the history too, thanks.
    🙂 Mandy

  3. I totally believe you when you say this chicken recipe will make me happy.. it looks absolutely amazing. Of course, when I fry chicken its the southern way.. but I will be trying this way next week when I pick up some chicken 🙂

  4. Very interesting cooking method steaming first before deep frying. But that reduce deep frying time and we don’t have to worried about uncooked chicken. Very simple ingredients too. Looks yummy. We need Max in the US.

  5. Joanne says:

    You can never go wrong with fried chicken!!

  6. This is definitely a different version than I’m used to seeing. It looks crispier and lighter and very sarap!

  7. Kristy says:

    I love the idea of a quick fry! I imagine it’s a bit healthier than deep frying the chicken. And I really like the idea of steaming the chicken first. I’m going to have to give this a try. 🙂

  8. Fried chicken always makes me happy. 🙂

  9. This must be fabulous! Sarap to the bones indeed! Brined, steamed and THEN fried, it gets the benefit of all three very helpful processes to become fried chicken perfection. I’ll definitely try this approach next time I want fried chicken. Hmmm, should be a great process if applied to Thanksgiving turkey, too!

  10. peachkins says:

    Dapat may Jufran Banana Ketchup ka rin….at maraming extra rice…LOL!

  11. foodjaunts says:

    I still haven’t made it to Max’s and I always hear about how fabulous their chicken is. Thanks for the recipe, I know what I’m making next time I’m craving fried chicken.

  12. Henry says:

    Their fried chicken has a unique and delicious taste that you’ll never forget. I was thinking to invite someone to eat in nearest Max’s here when I read this post!

  13. i wonder if this could be done with pork too… hmm. ezep ezep..

  14. Ooh that double cooking process sounds like the end product would be super tender inside and super crispy on the outside – perfect !

  15. Ruth Parulan Tuvilla. says:

    I cooked this for supper tonight and it was a blast. An older Filipino couple made a comment that it taste just like Max Fried chicken and we really enjoyed and ate the whole thing. For these old folks to remember how Max chicken taste like is so complimentary of your recipe. Thanks for posting this. By the way, my husband’s name is also Raymund.

  16. cloudhead says:

    @Love2type, I think this is how they make Tuding’s Porkchop here in Laguna…I might be wrong, though. But how else could you get really tender porkchops with wonderfully caramelized and crunchy rind? =))

  17. cutiepamsy says:

    i tried this stuff but i added some ingredients on steam water i put patis(fish sauce) i also fried the chicken with bayleaf on oil.. great recipe thank u…

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