Simple Comfort Food

recipes that are simple and delicious.

Recent Goods

Categories

About

Volcano Chicken – Milwaukee Style

Created by: on July 24th, 2009 - Categories: Chicken, Delicious, Ethnic, Rice, Sauce, Thai, Vegetables

Back in the day, the King and I restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was possibly my wife and I’s favorite Thai restaurant. We have many dates there, before getting married, and it is just one of those restaurants where you go, and have to get a particular dish. I often compare the restaurant to going to a really awesome restaurant that is know for its chicken wings, but going in and ordering a salad. It just does not happen that way, especially at the King and I! Now don’t get me wrong, I really love Thai food, and it could possibly be one of my favorite cuisines, but going to the King and I, both my wife and I always ordered their Volcano Chicken.

Volcano Chicken Recipe

Having moved outside of the city, we stopped dining at the King and I, and trust me, we miss it. We miss the flavor of the Volcano Chicken. Basically, in its simplest form, perfectly fried chicken pieces, laid over a bed of seared cabbage and carrots, with this secret sauce, ordered as hot as you could handle it, poured over the entire plate, and served with a side of rice.

Now, you should know me by now. When I find something that good, I have to figure out how to make it. I have made several attempts in the past, of which were ok, but it was not the sauce, so I proposed to my wife that I make it again, and make it how it should be made. As her eyes lit up, and my mouth began to water just thinking of it, I knew I had a flavor challenge ahead of me, but I was up for the challenge.

Ingredients (for chicken and batter):

In a small bowl, add the soy sauce, water, and the egg yolks, and beat until well combined. To a larger bowl, add the cornstarch and salt and pepper. Slowly stir in the egg mixture to make your batter. Add your chicken cubes to the batter and make sure you mix well to get the batter all over the chicken cubes. Set aside and bring your oil to temperature in your deep fryer, approximately 350 degrees.

Ingredients (Volcano Sauce):

To your sauce pan, add all of the sauce ingredients, bringing to a boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat and cook until it reduces, approximately 25 minutes. Once reduced, remove from the heat and let cool. Now keep in mind this has a good heat to it, not too spicy. If you want more spice, I suggest adding chili flakes, or chili flakes that you can buy in the Asian marts that are in a oil.

Your oil should be ready. Drop in the chicken cubes, being careful to to overcrowd and cook until a light golden brown. This should only take about 5 minutes per batch. Remove from the oil, and let drain on paper towel, repeating the process until all chicken has been fried.

Next get your large skillet heated on a high heat. Add the olive oil, and toss in the cabbage and carrots. The goal is to let this mixture sear, and become somewhat blackened, but not burnt. The high heat brings out the sweetness of these vegetables, and builds a really killer flavor. Once seared on one side, approximately a few minutes, flip, and get a sear going on the other side.

You are now ready to plate. I like to get a small cup out, pack it with the rice, then flip over onto the plate. This adds some nice presentation to your plating. Add a bed of the cabbage and carrots onto the plate, top with chicken pieces, and spoon on the sauce over the chicken and vegetables, just enough to make things damp.

Dig in and enjoy. As this dish took about 45 minutes to cook overall, it was definitely worth it. We giggled, and agreed that I nailed the sauce. Sorry King and I.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

12 Responses to “Volcano Chicken – Milwaukee Style”

  1. Esi Says:
    July 24th, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    I am just about ready to get something together for dinner and now I am hungry for this dish! I love Thai food and this recipe sounds like a winner!

  2. Mikey Says:
    July 25th, 2009 at 4:00 am

    Sounds awesome- will try making this week- will let u know how it goes! Btw- can u come to Toronto- there are some killer dishes in Chinatown that I need u to figure out :-)

  3. MLA Milwaukee Says:
    July 27th, 2009 at 9:58 am

    King & I’s Volcano chicken has a flaming sauce, did you forget, so you missed some kind of ingredient. It has to have some kind of alcohol in it to flame when it is lit. I will still try the recipe and see how it goes.

  4. Pete Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    I use to live in Milwaukee and ate at ALL of the Volcano Chicken joints… King and I, Siam and Ee sane, etc. They were all good! Now I live in Minneapolis and no matter how hard I’ve tried, I couldn’t find a Thai restaurant that offers this dish. I think only a select few cities in the country offer this dish and Milwaukee is one of them along with some cities in Florida. I don’t know why Thai restaurants around the country don’t pick up on this dish because it is one of the staple Thai cuisines in Milwaukee and it’s insanely good. But until then I will give your recipe a try… or make a 6 hour drive to Milwaukee.

  5. Val in NC Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    Thanks SO much for figuring this one out! It’s a LONG commute to Milwaukee from Charlotte, NC . . . and I just can’t get enough Volcano Chicken from The King and I!

  6. Tom Yum Goong Recipe | The Comfort is Always Here Says:
    January 10th, 2010 at 9:36 am

    [...] and I restaurant probably had one of my more favorite dishes on its menu, and one that I recreated, called Volcano Chicken. As we continue to search for really good Thai food, most of which is take out with family, there [...]

  7. Candace in Omaha Says:
    May 11th, 2010 at 10:23 am

    I used to live in Racine (30 minutes south of Milwaukee) and LOVED The King & I’s Volcano Chicken. You could even get it at a food stand at Summerfest. Yum! Since moving to Omaha, no Thai restaurant makes it. I used to think that it was unique to only certain group of Thai people who settled in SE Wisconsin! Thank you for posting this recipe. I cannot wait to try it!

  8. Katie in Mke Says:
    July 27th, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    I found this recipe by chance & really like Volcanic Chicken so I figured I would try it. Wow…. great job!!!! It was sooooo good. I’ll make this again. Totally worth the time.

  9. Jeremy in PHX Says:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 9:44 am

    Is this just a Milwaukee thing?! Well that makes more sense now. Since I moved to Phoenix 6 1/2 years ago I have searched high and low for this dish and when I ask, I just get strange looks. I miss it so!! As a matter of fact, EVERY single time I fly back to MKE I NEVER miss a trip for some Volcano Chicken (and Leon’s frozen custard for dessert). I think I’m going to give this recipe to my local Thai restaurant. Thanks!

  10. Ellen Says:
    October 29th, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    You really did nail this one! I had this at the King and I the other night …and just had to have more! Thank you so much!

  11. Thomas Says:
    April 25th, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    I worked at the downtown King and I when I was in high school and have eaten this dish all over Milwaukee as an adult. I am not sure I agree with MLA’s comment about the sauce having a “flaming” characteristic. The sauce was poured over the veggies/chicken just prior to serving tableside and would emit puffs of smoke and sizzle chaotically when it hit the hot iron skillet. Perhaps this is what MLA is thinking of (However, I believe the sauce recipe is missing rice vinegar to balance the sweetness of these ingredients)? I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. I live in volcano-chickenless Atlanta now and will be trying this recipe tonight. Hope it comes close enough to quell my craving. Thanks for the recipe.

  12. cara Says:
    August 19th, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    Unbelievable. You have completely demystified the Volcano Chicken preparation and my husband is forever grateful. He was rather skeptical at first, but I followed the recipe exactly and was rewarded with a fabulous dinner featuring one of our all time favorites!!!

Leave a Reply or Submit a Review

Comment or Review:

Please enter the CAPTCHA code below. You might consider copying your comments before submitting in case you misenter the code.

CAPTCHA Image
*