I bought some chicken and fish and want to batter and fry it. Do I need to pre cook it any before frying it or will the frying alone cook it thoroughly? It says to only cook for 3-5 minutes per piece but that doesn’t sound like enough time to cook it all the wya though.
It is. Deep-frying is remarkably efficient in cooking because the hot oil contacts the food directly, and can transfer heat much more quickly than an oven.
It really depends on the thickness of the pieces of meat. A full thickness chicken breast will not cook through in 3-5 minutes, one sliced or pounded into a thin cutlet should cook through as fast as the batter gets done.
The fish should be fine, unless it’s a very thick fillet, like salmon, which you wouldn’t do this way anyhow.
I would not pre-cook the chicken, though, I’d cut it into small enough pieces to cook through when fried.
As Cheesesteak says, it depends on the size of the meat. If it’s thick, cook it for longer, at a lower temperature (which stops the outer parts being overcooked or burnt).
If you want to make traditional southern fried chicken, then it is possible to poach it in buttermilk until it is cooked and then just fry to crisp up the outsides.
Really? Neither my Mississippi-born mother nor my Alabama-born grandmother ever pre-cooked their fried anything.
Interesting. I, too, have never heard of poaching chicken in buttermilk. Leaving it in buttermilk to soak overnight (or two), yes, but poaching? No.
Can’t tell if you’re talking about pan-frying or deep frying. For deep frying, the food should be cut into small, manageable pieces. For pan frying chicken, keep the oil temperature down (325 F) so you don’t burn the outside and end up with chicken sushi on the inside. Looky here.
I would never pre-cook the chicken or fish, however you may deep fry the chicken for a few minutes until you achieve a perfectly golden breading and then transfer to a 350F oven to bake for about 25-35 minutes. This may dry the chicken out a bit, but if you prefer it well done like I do then this might be preferred. You could do the same for fish but cut the baking time to 10-15 minutes or so.