Fried Chicken

[SethG]

Jinmyo's method sounds very tasty. I've used this James Villas recipe (scroll down-- it's the second recipe in the article) numerous times with very good results. Villas would say that traditional Southern fried chicken must be dredged in nothing but seasoned flour-- bread crumbs are a no-no.

I would say if it tastes good, do it.

Penelope Casas has a very tasty, very rich recipe in her first book for a Spanish take on fried chicken, which involves pre-poaching the chicken, coating it with bechemel and then bread crumbs, and finally frying.

[sadistick]

I am thinking that this method may not stink up my house so much, since the drastically reduced frying times...

Few questions Jin...

How long would you estimate that you poach the chicken pieces?

What do you use in your spice mixture?

Cheers.

[Ben Hong]

Long ago when we operated a large general purpose restaurant with a multifaceted menu, that's what we'd do. I mean, who has time to wait for fried chicken cooked from the raw? The other benefit is that the resultant poaching liquid (stock) from doing 100 lbs. of chicken is ambrosia.

[sheetz]

There's also the reverse method: Fry the chicken to set the crust, then finish them off in the oven. The advantage to this method is that the excess grease drains away while the chicken is in the oven.

Edited March 24, 2005 by sheetz (log)

[Ore]

Ummm...fried chicken and grease are in this sense equal terms...why would you want to drain away the fried chicken from the fried chicken!?!?!?!?

The best fried chicken is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside...I pull my chix early and let it carry over the extra 3 or 4 minutes - i get good chix and i will eat it a bit on the rosy side without even a second look at its color...

dont kill the chicken more than you already have...45 minutes in the oven...is your oven at 180 degrees (f)??

Jin - awesome technique - will try ASAP

[snowangel]

Reminder that if you are going to do the fry first technique, be sure and check out the ultimate fried chicken thread -- all 10 pages of it -- here.

[prasantrin]

I'm very late in this, but I have a question...do you poach it with the skin on or off? Fried chicken is just not fried chicken without the skin, but I can't imagine it would be as crispy if poached first. I could just take the skin off before poaching and fry it separately, though. Yum!

[Daniel]

Tonight i want to make fried chicken.. I have made it using Jimmy's method with great success.. Tonight however i want to make it with a batter and deep fry it.. Can someone please give me an amazing recipe for a deep fried battered fried chicken a la popeyes..

[Toliver]

Tonight i want to make fried chicken.. I have made it using Jimmy's method with great success.. Tonight however i want to make it with a batter and deep fry it.. Can someone please give me an amazing recipe for a deep fried battered fried chicken a la popeyes..

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Did you see this thread:

"Fried Chicken--Cook-Off V, eGullet Recipe Cook-Off Series"

There's a couple recipes posted within.

[petite tête de chou]

Tonight i want to make fried chicken.. I have made it using Jimmy's method with great success.. Tonight however i want to make it with a batter and deep fry it.. Can someone please give me an amazing recipe for a deep fried battered fried chicken a la popeyes..

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I second the Popeye's-style request. My husband loves their chicken, biscuits and especially their red beans and rice. I've been on a bit of a quest to duplicate each recipe, just to make my gent happy and sated. Hmm. Maybe a new thread for restaurant copy-cat recipes?

[fimbul]

How funny. After years of avoiding frying my own chicken, I've recently become quite taken with it. Just last night I fried chicken coated in a pecan-flour crust:

process 2 cups pecans with 2 cups flour with a little salt; marinate chicken thighs and drums overnight in buttermilk, roll chicken parts in seasoning (salt, black pepper, cayenne), dredge in flour, shallow-fry in peanut oil, um, enlivened shall we say? with a tablespoon of bacon fat for 7 or 8 minutes or so per side over medium-high heat. Let your chicken rest and drain a few minutes in a 200 degree or so oven while you get the rest of the dinner ready (in my case fried green tomatoes, a green salad, steamed chard). It worked pretty well; despite there being a lot of fried on one plate, it tasted light enough and yummy.

It's not diet food, but I had this craving, you see.

It worked pretty well, but the nuts in the crust bear watching: too high a heat will burn them and darken your chicken past what's appetizing.

Credit for the pecan flour, by the way, must go to the Old Post Office Restaurant on Edisto Island in South Carolina, USA. Iirc, they serve theirs crusting semi-boneless quails and boneless bird boobs, so the high-heat issue prolly never bothers them.

edit: Had the pecan to flour proportion all wrong. Don't know how you screw up "1:1" but I did it.

Edited June 7, 2005 by fimbul (log)

[Daniel]

So tonight I decided to make fried chicken even if its just the regular way.. Started out cooking the chicken in buttermilk..

Actually i started out with a bloody mary... Then i cooked the chicken in buttermilk..

Then breaded and fried it.. For sides i made collard greens with bacon, onion, garlic, red pepper, and a splash of apple cider vinegar.. And also a dirty rice with black beans.. Also attempted to make it all perty like.. I am a seperate pile man myself, but it worked.. The chicken was extremely moist, the collard greens were amazing.

[snowangel]

Daniel, more about the breading, please!

[WHT]

Don't the fast-food places cook their fried chicken in a batter?

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Not any of the main chains. a salt and lemmon brine followed by coating in spiced flour.

[Daniel]

Daniel, more about the breading, please!

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Funny story actually.. I found some batter recipe and decided to use it.. It was basically like putting pancake mix on a piece of chicken.. So i first battered that one nubby drumstick in the photo and checked its progress.. I was very unhappy with the result so, I removed the breading and started over...

At this point the rice was going to be done soon and the greens were blanched and waiting to be fried with the onion and bacon.. So i made a basic flour, hot paprika, white pepper, black pepper,salt, garlic and dredged and fried. Still waiting for the popeyes recipe..

[Toliver]

Still waiting for the popeyes recipe..

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Well, there's always Todd Wilbur's "Top Secret Recipes" version of Popeye's Fried Chicken (paraphrased to make it okay to post):

Popeye's Fried Chicken

6 cups vegetable oil

2/3 cup All-Purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons white pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

3 eggs

1 frying chicken with skin, cut up

Using a wide, deep pan or a deep frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat.

Mix the flour, salt, peppers and paprika in a wide, shallow bowl.

Using another wide, shallow bowl, beat the 3 eggs.

Drop a pinch of flour into the oil to check it. If it rapidly bubbles around the flour, then it's hot enough. You could probably use a thermometer to check the oil temperature instead.

Coat a piece of chicken in the beaten eggs and then dip generously into the flour mixture.

Place the chicken pieces into the hot oil and fry for 15 to 25 minutes or until dark golden brown.

When done, take the chicken out and place on a rack or paper towels to drain.

Makes 8 pieces.

You will find this recipe all over the internet if you Google (and there's another supposed Popeye's recipe on the internet with powdered spaghetti sauce mix as one of the ingredients that just gives me the heebee jeebees from reading it).

I have not made this myself, but I've seen some comments left on Todd Wilbur's website stating that they made it and thought it was very close to the Popeye's recipe.

Please let us know what you think if you make it.

[Jinmyo]

I'm very late in this, but I have a question...do you poach it with the skin on or off?  Fried chicken is just not fried chicken without the skin, but I can't imagine it would be as crispy if poached first.  I could just take the skin off before poaching and fry it separately, though.  Yum!

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I've just seen this now.

Sorry.

/me seppuku

But first:

Skin on. And yes, very crispy.

[devlin]

I used to watch my dad in his restaurant make what I thought was the best fried chicken in the world til I had Popeye's and wondered how in the world they could be so similar. The posted recipe sounds like what I vaguely remember. He used a professional frier, of course, so I'm not thinking I'm gonna replicate it exactly any time soon.

But I just got Paul Bertolli's Cooking by Hand, and because I had 5 pounds of chicken thawed and ready to cook, I tried his pan-roasted chicken, from his "Bottom-Up Cooking" chapter, and thought it exceptional. The chicken isn't dredged in anything, just salted and peppered before going into a deep pan, skin side down, and then sprinkled with leaves of a sprig of rosemary and browned at roughly medium to medium high for about 40 minutes ("parking" the breasts on the other meat for some of that time because they finish quicker) and then cooked on the other side for another 20 minutes or so.

The surprising thing to me was you don't use any oil or fat to cook. You heat the pan (or pans,... I used a large and a medium pan) and put the chicken in dry. They then cook in their own fat from the skin. And then you deglaze with a cup of water. Really fabulous.

I'm thinking maybe I should rub a little salt underneath the skin next time. Is there any reason not to I should know about? Dunno.

[edited for clarity, or grammatical screwups, or whatever]

Edited June 9, 2005 by devlin (log)

[megwoo]

There are some great ideas on here! I'm no expert on technique, but I LOVE my grandma's Chinese fried chicken that's marinated in fermented bean curd. The flavor is incredible!

Yen-Yen's Chinese Fried Chicken

http://www.iheartbacon.com/recipes/recipe.php?recID=125

[maui420]

which way taste better though?

Don't the fast-food places cook their fried chicken in a batter?

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Not any of the main chains. a salt and lemmon brine followed by coating in spiced flour.

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[maui420]

hi,

after frying some chicken last week, using different batter mixes, brining, and such,,,,i decided on boiling the chicken first.

the results were fantastic. meat was tender, and i achieved the perfect looking crust that i always wanted. when i had the fried chicken session last week, the crust was a tad burnt and the meat was still undercooked. i then had to finish them in the oven with losing the nice crispy skin.

now heres my problem. the chicken lacked flavor. here is what i did, i boiled the chicken (drums and thighs) in water with a little salt, some garlic, and a few dried chili peppers for about 20 minutes. after, i seasoned a little bit with salt and pepper, dipped each chicken in a flour mixture( all purpose flour, paprika, onion and garlic powder, and cayenne), dipped in a 2 egg and some milk bath, dipped in some crushed corn flakes, and dipped again in flour. the whole process takes a few seconds.

i then deep fried the chicken peices for like 3 minutes each.

now i feel the chicken meat could be a little bit more saltier, and the same with the crust.

now i heard that i should not fry with salt, but only apply salt after the frying is complete. is this true? is it ok if i salt liberally before putting the chicken in the fryer? how about when i boil, should i add more salt? sugar? anything to add some flavor to the meat? maybe i used too much water....

anyways, i am looking for suggestions and any would be greatly appreciated. i was going to take pics, but the battery was low. next time, i promise.!

btw, i am looking for popyes like taste. i am missing something...

which way taste better though?

Don't the fast-food places cook their fried chicken in a batter?

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Not any of the main chains. a salt and lemmon brine followed by coating in spiced flour.

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[DanM]

As I understand it, pan fried chicken is marinated in buttermilk to help tenderize the meat. However, in a kosher kitchen, it is a major no-no. Are there any non-dairy alternatives that will work well for this purpose?

Thanks,

Dan

[prasantrin]

I would just brine it in a water-based solution.

[DanM]

I would just brine it in a water-based solution.

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Kosher chicken is already brined... does then not need further attention?

Dan

[Dave the Cook]

I'm skeptical of buttermilk's tenderizing abilities, but it does add a nice tang and a unique medium for dredging. You could simulate the former (and tenderize) with a brine of salt, water and lemon juice. Is that kosher?