I like my fried chicken crispy and crunchy. The kind where you can barely tell what the piece is because it’s got so much. The kind that will cut the roof of your mouth if you eat it too quickly.
The further from that platonic ideal, the less I care for it. I see no point at all in those light batters that don’t even provide texture, and at that point would rather the chicken just be naked.
I like the breading crispy and crunchy. But also thin. If I got or made fried chicken, that’s because I wanted to eat fried chicken, not because I wanted to eat fried bread(ing).
The best fried chicken I’ve ever had was at an izakaya, a Japanese snack bar. It was karaage style, marinated and dry-starched before frying, unlike tempura with a wet batter. The result is both very light and very crispy; this place also went heavy on the black pepper. It was absolutely magical and I went back every chance I could when I lived in that neighborhood. I haven’t seen it anywhere since coming to Europe; I miss it and would love to have it again.
Nope, nope, and nope.
I like to rinse mine then roll it in flour with salt and pepper added, then fry it in oil at least deep enough to cover the biggest chicken pieces beyond the halfway line. Fry until deep golden brown, then lift out to dry briefly on a paper towel.
If I want crunchy I’ll go get some tortilla chips instead.
Light breading, I want chicken, not a chicken sandwich (bread). I want to identify the piece (again I want chicken so I prefer it looks the part). Not flour either, but some flavored breadcrumb. I don’t need a piece of fried batter attached to my chicken either. Crispy is fine regular is fine, but not soggy or overly oily. And some heat helps, not too much but something to spark some fire.
As I mentioned in my fried chicken thread, I prefer a dry breading attached to wet chicken. Batter breadings have too great a chance to end up with pieces where the unfortunate soul bites into oily dough, a situation which should be avoided at all costs.
I’ll probably be murdered as a heretic going for a middle ground, but it’s a hill I’ll die on!
Speaking especially of boneless skinless (huge range of options on bone-in) I want a combination of crispy-crunch but otherwise -light- breading. Generally I’ll take marinated or brined chicken, shake off moisture, and do dry-wet-dry with a few moments sitting between each stage.
First is a seasoned flour (wheat flour, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powder, salt), a pause to let adhere and absorb some of the surface moisture, then into an egg and milk wet layer seasoned with hot sauce, then pressed into a layer of extra crunch: panko, crushed corn flakes, etc. Let rest.
Then fry. I want an over all coating, because again, especially with boneless skinless (thighs by choice) I want all that extra flavor. The extra crunch at the end is fun, but I don’t want a batter. Just no.
(okay, maybe on fish and chips or tempura, but that’s another thread)
[ and don’t get me started on some chile relleno where it’s a ball of batter on a tiny anaheim!!! ]
Bone in chicken though, well that depends on the quality of the chicken. Most fast food and grocery store pieces tend to be cheap, and more breading is better. On a good bird though, just enough breading for seasoning and a bit of crisp texture is PLENTY.
Yeah, I love karaage chicken. I was totally surprised when I found out how little corn starch breading it takes to make it.
I prefer my fried chicken crispy, but not armored. So, thin-ish, but hefty enough to stand up to being in the refrigerator overnight.
If we’re marinating the chicken in a brine overnight or it didn’t get a marinade, I go for a dry-wet-dry coating. The flour has some spices and salt in it. The egg/milk mixture usually gets some hot sauce put in it.
If we marinated it in a buttermilk concoction, then we just go for the flour dredge after taking it out of the brine. Doing dry-wet-dry to that stuff ends up with the armored chicken @Johnny_Bravo apparently prefers. It works, but it’s not my favorite chicken.
Mom would dip it in egg and roll it in crushed Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
Mom never had leftover chicken.
My mother made the best fried chicken. I have come close but I have never replicated it. Soak the chicken in buttermilk for an hour, dredge in a mixture of Bisquck, Johnny’s seasoning salt, onion powder and some MSG. Fry in Crisco and lard. I think she use to add some bacon grease to the oil. Due to dietary restrictions, I haven’t made this in years.
While that is taking it a tiny step too far, I’d like some chicken with my breading. And there needs to be some serious attention to seasonings. It can be dill, or marjoram, or even thyme, whatever flavor profile you like, but something more than just black pepper and onion salt. A mere whisper of Laxmi curry powder in the flour will not go wrong.
And for the love of Pete, remove the skin before you dip it. That skin is not going to get crispy frying underneath all that flour so do not serve me a layer of rubber between the breading and the meat. Blech!
It is also necessary to flavor the oil you will fry it in. I use an extra light olive oil and fry up a chopped onion and a couple of chopped green peppers in it before I add any chicken. If I skinned the chicken I will fry up the skins as well, to add that chicken fat flavor to the oil.
Me Muddah used Crackah Meal, but yeah crunch it up real fine.
We got our cornflakes through government surplus.
Fryin Magic coating.
I messed around with various spice mixes and things, and breading and crunchies, and did note that I like all of them. I followed some that were at least loosely based on commercial chicken outlets. I like lots of both white and black pepper, poultry seasoning, garlic and onion, paprika and cayenne. One thing I like to include too is a little bit of both baking powder and baking soda.
A hack I picked up from a site that was attempting to do Chick-fil-A clones was to add a -small- amount of powdered sugar to your dredge or dry/flour component. The sweetness added is minimal, but it does help get a really even GBD (golden brown delicious) coating.
Cornstarch is part of powdered sugar, as well as baking powder.
Forgot to mention that Ma always took the skin off before the egg bath/Cracker Meal. Is that commonplace? I didn’t realize the skin is left on sometimes until I was in my twenties.
Crispy and crunchy, light or medium thickness. Thicker is ok too if it doesn’t get burnt getting done.
Sometimes? Breaded and fried naked chicken is not Fried Chicken.
Never have I seen powdered sugar with baking powder. Cite?
The amount of cornstarch in powdered sugar is tiny.