Use sharp kitchen shears to cut off the neck of the chicken. This will make the chicken easier to fry; we’ll fry this separately later, though you can discard if you wish.
Fill your wok with oil (1 lb) so that it can cover at least half the chicken, and heat it to 300°F (149°C). It took nearly a lb of oil to fill our wok. This oil can be reused to cook other dishes afterwards. You can test the temperature of the oil with a thermometer, or by checking for small bubbling when poking a wooden chopstick into the oil.
When the oil is hot enough, lay a metal slotted spatula in the wok and slowly place the chicken into the wok, over the spatula, with the breast side facing down. The slotted spatula will keep the chicken from directly touching the wok, which would cause sticking and burning.
Turn the heat off and use a ladle to scoop and pour the hot oil over the chicken. Keep at it until the bottom of the chicken has turned golden brown, for 8-10 minutes. When the oil drops to 212°F (100°C), or the boiling point of water, turn the heat onto low to bring the oil back up; keep the oil temperature around 212°F (100°C).
Flip the chicken over and cook until the other side turns a golden brown, which will take 5-6 minutes. Continue ladling hot oil over the exposed areas of the chicken.
Turn the chicken on one side to cook the thigh for 1 minute, then turn it onto the other side and cook the other thigh for 1 minute.
Turn the heat off and transfer chicken to a plate for the moment. If there are any burnt bits of chicken in the oil, use a fine-mesh sieve to remove them.
Fry head & continue 1st fry
Keeping the oil temperature at around 212°F (100°C), fry the chicken head for 4 minutes.
Increase heat to raise the oil temperature to 375°F (190°C). This secondary stage of the first fry requires more maneuvering, so get a partner to help if you need to: instead of putting the chicken in the oil, hold the chicken in a large spider strainer over the wok and ladle the very hot oil over it. Spend 1-2 minutes ladling the hot oil over, making sure to evenly cover all the surface of the skin.
Turn the heat off and put the chicken down (finally!) into the oil, again keeping that strainer or slotted spatula between the chicken and the wok to keep the chicken from sticking and burning. Let the chicken cook for another 6-7 minutes, flipping it over from time to time. The goal is to get a consistent golden brown color across the entire chicken.
Set the chicken aside on a wire rack to cool completely, which will take at least 30 minutes. If you want extra crispy skin, let it cool and dry for even longer.
However, the longer you wait for crispier skin, the more moisture the inside of the chicken loses, so you’ll be choosing between the most succulent meat and the crispiest skin. You can wait for 2-3 days before the second fry (if you do so, please keep the chicken at safe temperatures in the refrigerator).