Monday, July 13, 2009

Buttermilk Fried Chicken – Southern, Fried, but Not Southern Fried

Not being from the south, I had no idea that this recipe I've been calling southern fried chicken for a long time, was not really southern fried chicken.

It w
as southern, and it was fried, but the addition of the buttermilk marinade apparently disqualified it from being a true southern fried chicken recipe.

According to my sources deep within the southern fried chicken subculture, real southern fried chicken consists of chicken parts, dredged in seasoned flour, and fried in hot oil until crisp and cooked.

That's it. If any additional steps or ingredients are added, and you still call it southern fried chicken,
someone may drop a, "Well, bless your heart" on you. Sounds nice, right? It's not, ask a southerner.

I'll have to try that pure version one day, but I love the tangy tenderization that the buttermilk and associated bacteria provide, so I don't see any reason to change my approach.

Yes, this is a messy project, but there are perks to having a Dutch oven full of oil around for a few days. You already saw the Paczki we made, and you will see a French fry demo soon, so stay tuned.

I decided to show a couple minutes of me cutting up the whole chicken into the classic eight-piece meal. I did speed it up to make it somewhat bearable, so if you need to, go back and watch it a few times to see the nuances of the dissection. Enjoy!

UPDATE! It seems I wasn't clear in the video regarding the temperature. The oil is 350 degrees F. to start, but when the chicken goes in it will drop to about 300. It should rise back to 305-310 and be held at that until done, about 20 minutes. I've added a notation in the video, so hopefully that will help!




Ingredients:
3 1/2 pound chicken, cut in 8 pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground dried herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage)
2 cups buttermilk

for the seasoned flour:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

2 1/2 quarts peanut oil for frying

206 comments:

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Unknown said...

Followed the recipe exactly, except, I used vegetable oil. The best fried chicken I've ever had. My dinner party guests, including two professional chefs, were awed.

Louisianafriedchicken said...

Awesome Post here.
extra crispy and fried chicken
crispy chicken combo meals
best crispy spicy fried chicken wings

Unknown said...

Hey Chef can I use vegetable oil (soy based) instead peanut or canola oil ?

Bob Correa said...

Delishous!
One thing. I used ⅓ grasped / 2/3 canola oils. I heated to 350, maintained about 300 in a 6qt enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Did 4 pieces at a time. My chicken was almost too dark. All of the flour that fell to the bottom blackened. It didn’t taste burnt but it was visually too dark to me.

Athena said...

I make hot wings a lot. I save the wing tips and freeze them until I have a bunch and then I throw them into a pressure cooker with onion and garlic to make chicken stock. They are perfect for this.

CajunK said...

Not bad if you’re craving greasy fried chicken. Tried it out with 2 bone in, skin on thighs. Halved the buttermilk and flour but kept the same seasoning. Next time i’ll fry one at a time in the fry daddy. Fried for 10 min and crust started to turn very dark. Placed them in the oven on convection 350 until they reached an internal temp of 163.

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