Better fried chicken
Fried chicken is something I obsess a bit about. I make it rarely (because it’s deep fried), so I try to make the most of it. Recently I read a Serious Eats article for Extra-Crispy Fried Chicken With Caramelized Honey and Spice which talked about cooking at a lower temperature but avoiding greasiness and wanted to try it (skipping the honey bits).
You will need
- Peanut oil, sold as ground nut oil in the UK
- Chicken pieces (I used thighs and drumsticks, bone in)
- A tub of buttermilk
- A habinaro based hot sauce
- Plain flour
- A digial thermometer (unusual for me I know)
Do
- Mix a handful of buttermilk with a good squirt of hotsauce
- Mix in the chicken and make sure it’s all covered
- Stick it in the fridge for 4+ hours
- Once you’re ready to cook, put the oil into a pan wide enough to hold all your chicken in a single layer and turn the heat on. You’re aiming for 160oC so keep an eye on it
- Put plenty of plain flour in a bowl
- Take each piece of chcken out, shake off the excess butter milk and pop it in the flour.
- Shake some more flour over the top, pat it down, shake it off, patt it about again. You’re aiming for a dry but claggy finish
- Repeat for all pieces
- Once your oil is hot, pop the pieces of chicken in carefully
- The oil will rush up a bit, be careful
- The temperature will drop off, adjust if needed to get it back but be careful not to over heat.
- Cook for about 12 minutes. Check by squewering the thickest piece and seeing the juices run clear
- (no science to this but I noticed the steam stopped coming off just before it was ready - is this the sign of the crispy batter)
- Drain on papertowel and eat with more hot sauce
Result
Super crispy,there was actually a pop when picked them up with tongs under the fat and steam came out. The thick marinade and added fou gives great crust, though it’s not thick. Creveses seems to be the thing. There no salt in the marinade, but the hot sauce and buttermilk seem to tenderise the chicken and the bite of the hot sauce is still there.
