Max’s Style Fried Chicken

The only fried chicken I knew as a kid came from KFC and Banquet frozen family packs. So it was a revelation when one day my dad made dry fried chicken à la Max’s, a Philippine chain founded in the wake of World War II, which today has outposts from Milpitas and Waipahu to Las Vegas and Dubai. The chicken was steamed whole before it got dunked in the deep fryer, making it extra juicy and miraculously crispy without a batter.

This recipe draws from both Max’s and my time at Mission C