We reckon deep-frying is the next best thing to barbecuing, and have we got a fried chicken dish for you!
Have a go with this super simple recipe for fried chicken, made with Southern Fried Chicken Coating, for absolute domination when it comes to crunch and flavour.
This recipe is our version of the original, which dates back to the 1930s and was made famous by the Wells Supper Club in Harlem, New York.
Our recipe involves a couple of simple steps, like trimming that fat off your chosen cuts of chicken and then marinating the chicken overnight in buttermilk. After that, it’s game time as the chicken gets dipped in your choice of Original or Hot & Spicy Southern Fried Chicken Coating.
In our recipe video, I show you a snappy little trick to getting extra crunch with the coating. The chicken then gets deep-fried and sat up on top of a maple-drenched waffle.
Because buttermilk is made through fermentation, it has high levels of lactic acid, which help break down some of the protein in the meat. This is what gives the chicken that melt-in-your-mouth madness. You can use pretty much any piece of deboned chicken for this recipe, although you might want to beat it out a bit if it’s a thick cut.
What’s fantastic about deep-frying, aside from the golden glow and insane crunch outside, is the juicy tenderness from the meat having steamed inside the coating.
You can also create a little bowl of chicken popcorn for the kiddos, which they will pretty much inhale as you hand them over.
When deep frying chicken, you want to aim for an oil temperature of around 160°C. It’s a good idea to lower the chicken into the oil already in the basket rather than drop or lower it with the basket already in the oil.
This top tip will help stop the chicken from sticking or losing its coating as you pop it into the hot deep-fat fryer. Another tip is not to overload the fryer but to cook in smaller batches. This will stop the pieces from sticking and keep the oil temperature at a steady 150-160°C.
The great thing about this Southern Fried Chicken Coating is that it comes in two flavours – Original and Hot & Spicy. When you check them out side by side, you can see that fiery chilli of the Hot & Spicy variant just by looking at it. It’s a much deeper red tone than the Original flavour, but both are delicious and give great colour to the end product.
Chicken is a pretty bland white meat that needs a well-rounded seasoning to make it lip-smackingly tasty. This is what this brand delivers with its spice range. If you are cooking for kids or don’t want to break out into a sweat, go for the Original; it’s got major flavour and colour.
So if you’re in Australia, we can ship your coatings to you straight away so you can get crackin’ with trying out your own chicken waffles. We hope you’ll give this recipe a go and let us know what you think.