Hat Yai fried chicken with fried shallots

Grind white peppercorns fine, then garlic and cilantro stems (or roots) to a fine paste, the 'three friends'. Grind in the sugar to break the herbs down further.

Add Thai soy sauce, a little fish sauce and a whole bunch of water so the marinade is also a brine that makes the chicken juicy and seasoned all the way through.

Score each drumstick once on each side at the thickest part; trim hanging skin from the thighs and score beside the bone so it cooks faster. Trim very large thighs smaller.

Put the chicken in a mixing bowl and pour over the marinade; marinate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, flipping halfway.

Bring the chicken out at least 30 minutes before cooking so it is not so cold.

Variation: re-crisp store-bought fried shallots in a 300F oven about 5 minutes.

Toss evenly sliced shallots with a pinch of salt; after about 10 minutes spread on paper towel and pat dry.

Put one piece of shallot in the frying oil over high heat; when it bubbles constantly, turn to low and add the rest. Stir and fry gently until golden and the bubbling mostly subsides; take them out sooner than seems right, as they darken after. Drain on paper towel.

Stir about half a cup of rice flour straight into the chicken and marinade, adding a little more until it coats the chicken thinly but thoroughly; no dredging.

Heat the oil to about 375F; adding the chicken drops it to about 300F, and hold it there on medium-low so the sugar does not burn before the big pieces cook through. Flip every so often.

Fry until the internal temperature reaches 175F, above the safe 165F, so dark meat releases cleanly from the bone and is more tender.

Serve with sticky rice and the fried shallots.