today's the day you learn to fry chicken
put on your glasses and get out your notebook this one's a doozy
I remember the day I learned how to fry chicken.
It was raining.
Storming.
Thunder pounded onto my 7th story apartment window.
The lights flickered like a madman’s laboratory as I carefully tipped the frying oil into a heavy pan, laughing maniacally at the thought of the burning liquid splashing into my eyes and face and earholes.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
The oil spoke to me in little bursts as the it rose in temperature, informing me that tiny beads of liquid that the oil despised still remained at the bottom of the pan.
No matter.
Finally, carefully, I lowered the floured, battered, and seasoned chicken thigh into pan with 2-foot tongs in my hight hand while wielding a head-to-toe metal shield in my left.
As the thigh made contact with the oil, it immediately started bubbling and crisping and gurgling.
A huge bolt of lightening lit the room and illuminated my crazed face as I watched the chicken cook. I was deep-frying in my little apartment, I was doing it.
Finally, minutes turned to years passed. I grabbed the chicken with the tongs and slowly lifted it from the boiling pits of hell. As I lifted my arm, the clouds parted and the powerful rays from heaven itself shined into my apartment, directly onto the perfectly golden brown skin.
Angels sang and trumpets roared. Somewhere outside, crowds chanted my name.
I was no longer under the control of evil fried chicken franchises around the world. I was free to create the very best fried chicken, right in my apartment. I could hear the painful screams of fried chicken CEOs around the world, knowing they had lost one of their biggest customers to the righteous power of deep-frying.
Yeah deep frying’s not like that at all.
It’s not nearly as scary and intimidating and dramatic as people would have you believe.
It’s actually really simple, and with a little practice, you can do it with minimal mess and set-up time. If you love fried chicken (or fried anything), which you do, I’ll show you how to make seriously fucking good fried chicken right in your kitchen.
I know the objections (because I’ve had all of them):
It’s too much work
You don’t want to waste that much oil
It’s scary and you think you’ll burn something or set a fire
I’ll address all of these. Trust me when I say I’m honest about the work I’m willing to put into a meal for myself. I tried to make gimbap yesterday (which is literally just Korean “sushi” rolls with like 3 ingredients) and I honestly feel like frying chicken is less work than that.
There are quite a few variations of frying chicken, so don’t read this and think this is the only way. This is my way, the way I’ve figured it to be the most delicious, easy, and practical way to make it. I literally do this just to feed myself a single meal all the time (fatty).
I’m going to do it a little differently today — I’m going to walk through every step because I feel like deep frying is one of those things that you kinda need to be walked through to get the confidence to do it.
EASY AF FRIED CHICKEN
Ingredients:
2-3 Chicken breasts, thighs, legs, whatever
~1/2 cup to 1 cup pickle brine (can sub buttermilk)
1 cup flour
Seasonings
~1 tsp. Salt
~1 tsp. Pepper
~1 tsp. Cumin
~1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
~1 tsp. Garlic Powder
~1 tsp. Onion Powder
Frying oil for shallow frying
Steps:
1 - Take the breasts and cut them into strips that are the shape of tenders. One breast should make about 3 strips.
Yes, thighs are juicier and nicer. I’m using breasts because that’s all I have. But this method guarantees juiciness no matter what cut you use. Throw a sock in there it will be juicy.
If you have thighs, you can just leave them as is, or cut them into popcorn chicken shapes like the picture up above.
2 - Put the tenders into a bowl and pour just enough pickle brine to cover the chicken. Put it in the fridge for at least a half-hour, longest like half a day.
This is the KEY to extra flavorful and juicy chicken. This how you can make even the much-maligned chicken breast gorgeously succulent. This is called “wet brining” — basically just letting the salty water absorb into the chicken. Pickle juice also gives it that bright “tang” that buttermilk also gives.
3 - Prepare the seasoned flour. Combine all of the seasonings with a cup of flour and combine it well.
In my opinion, seasoning the flour is the most work in this recipe. If you’re a junkie like me, you can bypass this by making a bigger batch of seasoned flour and saving it. I literally just pulled this tupperware out of my pantry ready to go.
This is where ALL of the flavor is coming from so don’t skimp! I don’t usually measure I just dump out random amounts in the flour. It should change the color of the flour.
4 - After your strips are brined, pull them out and place them on a wire rack or cutting board and leave them aside. Now gradually put 3-5 spoonfuls of the flour mixture into the brine and mix. You want it to get a GOOPY texture that will stick to your chicken.
So what we’re doing here is skipping the step of needing a different bowl for batter by making your own batter with the ingredients you already have. See? I’m saving you time and energy and dishes.
You’re going to toss a few spoonfuls of your flour into here and it will turn throw-up orange (yum). You want it THICK and GOOPY. It should CLING to your chicken.
5 - Once you have your mixture, toss your strips into the GOOPY brine mixture and cover well.
6 - Next, one at a time, transfer them into your flour mixture and coat it well. Shake off the excess, then lay them on a wire rack.
6 - Bring the oil up to 325 F or 162 C.
If you don’t have a thermometer, you can put a little flour into the oil to see if it bubbles. If it does, it’s ready to go.
Don’t be afraid! As long as you’re using a solid, heavy-bottomed pan and there are no liquids nearby, you’ll be fine. Preferably with high sides like the one below, but I even use a flat pan if I don’t have anything else. The ONLY thing that makes hot oil go out of control is liquid. As long as you don’t accidentally drop some water in, you’ll be fine.
Another trick to make it less intimidating, we’re shallow frying. You only need enough oil to come up half way on the strips.
7 - Two to three at a time, or however many you can fit without crowding the pan, carefully lay them in facing away from you.
8 - Let them go for about 3-4 minutes per side, adjusting the heat and pushing them around as necessary.
So about “wasting” oil. You can just reuse it. It’s fine. Just run it through a filter to get the big bits out, then store it in the fridge. Or just leave it out if you’re going to fry something again soon.
9 - Take them off the heat and put them on a wire rack. If you don’t have a wire rack, use paper towels. Salt them one more time immediately so the freshly fried chicken can absorb the salt.
The paper towels/wire rack is crucial because it keeps it from getting soggy while the oil dries off. You also want that salt to absorb into the skin as it dries.
Boom. Riff on it as necessary.
Toss it in your favorite sauce.
Put between some buns and make a sandwich.
Do little popcorn versions of it.
Scream at the workers at KFC that they don’t control your life anymore.
This might not be the most sophisticated way to fry chicken but it is definitely a lot easier and more accessible than people might think.
The ones I took pictures of for this explanation was kind of rushed and honestly not my best work, but I don’t even care, that’s kind of the point.
The point is you can do it!
Fry chicken!
Gain weight!
And then lose it again!
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Wow brined in pickle juice!!! So smart!!! Look delicious!!!
Pickle juice is a nice new addition. Nice post friend