There is a price to pay of course, aside from the calories, and that is you will need to start with this the night before you plan to eat. And there are many processes. You will be busy with your chicken, and then you will eat it so fast you won't even know what happened. It is worth it. So my version, is based on Thomas Keller's recipe for the most part, except, and here is where we (and Felicity) part company, I steam my chicken. Felicity thinks steaming is 'cheating' for some reason, and it is tempting to think you can have the best chicken fried from raw, but David Chang of Momofuku steams his chicken. And I trust and love him, And the pre-steamed chicken gave me the most silky, soft and tender chicken that I've ever eaten ever. The best things about pre-steaming though, is that you know it will be cooked (no prodding into the fried chicken to find oneself faced with a bloody, undercooked centre) and you don't have to keep it in the oil too long, meaning the crisp, light batter stays crisp and light and never gets dark and the doesn't skin gets tough. It's work, but it's easy work.
Step 1.
The night before, make a chicken brine. If you follow the links above, the brine by either Thomas Keller or David Chang will be fine. I use Thomas Keller's, but I will say that with this brine you must be careful about the salt (and some people say the Keller brine is too flavourful and detracts from the simplicity of fried chicken - I disagree. But it does use quite a lot of ingredients compared to the Momofuku brine). I use the specific brand of kosher salt Keller mentions in the original cookbook recipe (diamond crystal). Imported from the states via Amazon, irritatingly. There are alternatives, but make sure you measure it out right or your chicken will end up too salty. Ain't nobody got time for that. I use my pressure cooker (biggest pan) to soak my chicken pieces in the brine for about seven hours. I use around 1.2 kg of thighs and drumsticks, which is enough for 5 or 6. This fried chicken is great for leftovers though, and travels extremely well. So don't fret if you have leftovers for your packed lunch. In fact, give me a ring and I will come and polish it off for you.
Step 2.
After brining the chicken, rinse the pieces off well under a running tap and then steam them over a medium heat for 40 minutes. I use a plate in my largest bamboo steamer, but I do have to do it in three batches. I suppose you could gently poach it in buttermilk for the same effect. Anyway, leave the steamed chicken to cool and dry out for at least two hours (not in the fridge, unless it's a warm day. If storing in the fridge, take it out and bring to room temp before frying). Phew, almost there.
Step 3.
You'll need enough room for a conveyor belt style dip and dunk station and you'll need deep fryng vessels. You can use your deep fat fryer, or, as I did, use two large frying pans. I would recommend at least two just because you're going to have to fry lots of chicken pieces and if you crowd the pans it won't fry properly (the oil will cool down and will be absorbed by the batter, and the moisture will steam it. This is a bad combination and will make you feel like you've bought it from somewhere unsavoury at 3am.) but if you do it in just one pan, by the time you get down to your final pieces, you'll have had to put your first pieces in an oven to keep warm, Not terrible, but quite irritating. You'll want the chicken to rest for ten minutes (more on that coming) but if it looks like any more, stick it a low oven on a rack.
So, you have seasoned flour, and you have about a pint of buttermilk. If you, I promise, use a bit of paprika and some salt and pepper as per Felicity Cloake, you'll have fine chicken. Fine. But since you're going to all this trouble anyway, do better. This mixture will make enough for one batch of chicken, worth making double. Mix with 3 cups (360g) of plain flour
- 10g paprika
- 15g garlic powder
- 15g onion powder
- 10g salt
- 10g cayenne pepper
- 5g ground black pepper
- 5g herbes de provence ('mixed herbs' is fine tho')
- 5g celery salt
On your conveyor belt, put your seasoned flour into a large, deep bowl and your buttermilk in similar. I have a wide, shallow jug that I like for this. On the other side of this, have a rack that you've covered in greaseproof paper. On the other side of the stove, have another rack covered with greaseproof. Start heating the oil. You need to get to 160 degrees. Best use a thermometer. Get your chicken, coat in flour, dip in buttermilk, shake, dip in flour again and put on the rack. Your life will be immeasurably easier if you only use one hand for this process. When you've got four pieces, or six if using two pans, put the pieces of chicken into the hot oil and leave it alone for four minutes, Make sure the oil returns to temperature. You can begin to turn the chicken pieces to cook and brown all over then. As the chicken is cooked already, this is about eight minutes. Meanwhile, dip and dunk the next few pieces. Remove from the oil and place on the rack. Put the thighs the right way up, that is, the skin is on the top and any excess oil will drain off. Prop the drumsticks up on the thighs. Do the rest of the pieces. Serve, with salad and/or sweetcorn and/or coleslaw.
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