Crispy Fried Chicken



Every household has a fried chicken recipe I'm sure. Mine, I have developed over the years, using techniques that I've learned along the way. This recipe yields crispy, juicy chicken, packed with flavour and is sure to become your new family favourite.

This recipe is easy to make and depends on your personal tastes, so be sure to tweak the spices as you go.


Ingredients:

1 kg chicken (I used a mixture of thighs and drumsticks)
Oil for frying

For the brine:

1 tbsp black pepper corns
6 tbsp salt
2 ltrs water 
1 onion cut in half
A few sprigs of thyme

For the buttermilk marinade:

240g buttermilk
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black Pepper
1 tbsp garlic powered
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp celery salt

For the flour coating:

250g plain flour
1 tsp cayenne
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp all purpose seasoning 

How to make the crispy fried chicken

Prepare the brine by combing all of the brine ingredients in a large bowl. Place the chicken pieces in the liquid, making sure that the chicken pieces are all covered by the liquid. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the refrigerator over night. 

In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk, garlic powder, onion power, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Mix together well. Pour the buttermilk mixture into a large zip lock bag and add the chicken, close the bag and shake well to coat the chicken pieces in the buttermilk mixture. Place in the fridge and leave to marinate for an hour.  

In another zip lock bag combine the flour, cayenne pepper, paprika and the all purpose seasoning, close the bag and shake well to distribute the seasoning evenly throughout the flour. Now transfer the chicken pieces to the bag with the seasoned flour and shake well. Make sure that all the pieces are well coated and that the flour is well stuck to the chicken. Set aside for 10 minute.

In the meantime, if using a deep fat fryer, heat the oil to 160 or fill a deep skillet or dutch oven about 1-2 inches with oil. Heat the oil until it reaches the above temperature, you can check this by using a cooking thermometer. Fry the chicken with enough space between pieces that they won’t stick together. Fry for bout 7 minutes, flip, then fry for 3-5 minutes on the other side until the chicken is fully cooked.

Transfer the chicken to a plate lined with paper towel, to drain any excess oil. Serve with a sauce of your choice, I like sriracha chilli sauce. Enjoy!


Comments

Popular Posts