In this part of the world, you won’t see many friend chicken places use the 3-step method of coating. Some of the best friend chicken I’ve ever had was taken out of its packaging, cut up, and dredged in the flour (which is seasoned). Chicken Parm is another story, but fried chicken on the bone almost never contains any egg in the South.
YMMV, of course.
Where are you? The Pine Bluff Ladies Aux sounds pretty Southern to me, but Mason Dixon’s line is just North of me in Arkansas. 
Check for an America’s Test Kitchen recipe - they do it until they get it right.
Sorry, I forgot that my membership recently lapsed. I’m in Georgia, and was mainly referring to the freid chicken one would find in a soul food joint down here.
I have around 20 southern-themed cookbooks, so I’ll take a poll if I find a minute today.
They do it in my copy of Cooks Illustrated, June/July 2001. They brine, then use buttermilk, then a 3-step coating process, etc… I don’t like the look of the recipe, as it seems to be about 7 times more complicated than fried chicken needs to be.
Of course, their goal was extra super crispy fried chicken, which may explain it.
Cool.
These are the first 7 books I grabbed off the shelf, and probably some of the best ones I own. Only one calls for egg, but that is for a recipe that uses a batter. I haven’t found one with the 3-step (flour, egg, then some kind of coating) method yet, but I’m sure I will eventually.
Atlanta Cooknotes, The Secret of Southern Fried Chicken:
1 fryer, cut up
1 to 2 cups AP flour
Tobasco sauce, to taste
Crisco, Mazola, Wesson, or peanut oil for frying
Use the brown paper bag method (place four in bag, then add chicken. Shake until coated). They do it twice. Dab with a couple drops of Tobasco. Skillet fry. (They also have a batter-fried chicken, in which the bird is dunked in a very wet batter before deep frying.)
Weaver D’s (Automatic for the People):
3.5 cups AP flour
3 T garlic salt
3 T seasoned salt
3 T freshly ground black pepper
1 T salt
He says it’s enough for 3 to 4 pounds (1 chicken, really) of fryer pieces. Mix all ingredients and use the brown paper bag method.
Augusta Cooks for Company, Southern Fried Chicken
buttermilk
1/2 cup flour
1.5 t salt
1/2 t black or white pepper
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup vegetable shortening
Soak in buttermilk one hour. Drain chicken, but do not wipe dry. Place flour in paper bag & employ the paper bag method. Skillet fry in butter & shortening.
The New James Beard (It’s not Southern, but it is James Beard), Pan-Fried Chicken:
Here is the recipe in it’s entirety:
Dredge chicken pieces with flour. For this method, melt lard to a depth of 1/2 or 3/4 inch in skillets and brown the chicken quickly on all sides. Reduce heat, cover pans, and cook 20 to 25 minutes for dark meat, 5 to 20 minutes for white.
True Grits by the ATL Junior League & *The Gift of Southern Cooking *by Scott Peacock both have the same recipe. It involves a 24 hour brine, then a 24 hour soak in buttermilk, then the paper bag method with flour and a bit of cornstarch. Skillet fry in lard and a little butter. I’ll give the recipe if requested. It’s a dynamite bird that I’ve made and eaten many times around town, if more than a little complicated.
*Housekeeping in Old Virginia *(1879), Fried Chicken
Not going to reprint the entire paragraph since most of us don’t actually kill chickens these days. Their basic method of cooking is to fry in lard in a skillet after dusting the bird with four.
That must certainly win for “Most Southern”.
Thanks!
Same calories as Vegetable oil, and it fries better. Pick up some pig fat today!
ETA: Though, I think James Beard is the least Southern of any of the listed authors.
My argument with the “no dipping in egg” crowd is, how can you have Chicken-Fried Steak (which is definitely “dredge, dip, dredge”) and not do your chicken the same way? Hmm? 
I used to cook fries in lard when I was a pup.
Hijack: “Is there any Kosher lard?” he asked hopefully.
Last time I made fried chicken, I dredged in seasoned flour, egg wash (w/milk), flour again, fried in Crisco halfway up until golden brown, then baked in the oven to finish it. I don’t have lids for my cast iron. It turned out the best I’ve made yet - crispy outside, juicy inside, and no “cement” coating. The only problem was that I didn’t put enough seasoning in the flour, so I was wishing for a bit more “oomph.” I might try seasoning the chicken directly next time.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it that way, I’m just saying that isn’t the method generally employed by that part of the world which is most associated with fried chicken.
Chicken fried steak comes from a part of the US (Texas, and other beefy areas) that I wouldn’t trust to produce decent fried chicken any more than I would trust it to produce decent pulled pork.
Harumph.
ETA:
Ok, last but not least… what is your prefered seasoning, Foodie Dopers? What do you put in your flour?
I do salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and that’s about it. Sometimes a pinch of italian seasoning if I’m feeling weird.
Salt, pepper and paprika.
Do it the Cajun way: Tony Chachere’s and paprika. Lots of both.
I checked my recipe, and what you do is fry both sides on high (you might only nedd med high?) for a minute, skin side first. So this way, with the electric stove, you could basically get it cranked up to high for the first side, then turn it down to med low as soon as you turn it, then cover it after a minute.
Thanks, An Arky. That sounds reasonable. One minute on high, turn to medium-low, turn chicken pieces and cook for one minute on the still-‘high-hot’ oil, cover and cook for ten minutes.
I found a recipe for dirty rice that looks pretty good; though I’m not a big fan on gizzards (because of the gristle or whatever they have that makes them tough to chew). And I still have that bag of hush puppies in the fridge. Looks like I have the makings of a nice dinner. Maybe I’ll even make some mashed potatoes and gravy.
You gotta do the buttermilk. I too hate drinking the stuff but it’s essential for fired chicken. I dont like to drink fish sauce but I cant imagine Thai food without it!
Check out this video a friend made:
