Southern Fried Chicken, Y’all

Fried chicken is a staple on the menus of Irish chippers. Sometimes it’s mouth-watering but other times, as Snack Box pointed out yesterday, it can be grey, pallid, and deeply disturbed.

Making it at home is easy. There’s a small outlay on some ingredients – such as garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and dried parsley – but these will last for months or years. Legs, wings, or thighs are all great for this recipe, so you don’t have to buy breasts if you’re watching the wallet. If you do buy chicken breast meat, get it on the bone: this tends to be cheaper and it works better for this recipe. You could also ask your butcher to joint a whole chicken for you.

We had Southern Fried Chicken last weekend with a big pile of home-made chips. It was so bloody good – and I reckon we saved quite a few euro on the cost of a snack box. This will serve four.

Southern Fried Chicken at Home

Ingredients

• Selection of chicken pieces for four people (eg 8 drumsticks or 4 drumsticks and 2 breasts and 2 thighs)
• 500ml buttermilk
• 300g plain flour
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Vegetable oil (around 750ml)
• 1 tsp salt
• A pinch of black or white pepper, freshly milled or powdered

Instructions

• Put the chicken pieces in a pot and cover with water, add the stock, and bring to a simmer.
• Cook for 25 minutes, skimming off any foam. Remove and set aside, reserving the broth (broth recipe here).
• The chicken pieces should be placed in the fridge to cool. Do not attempt to coat the chicken until it has cooled, or all the batter will fall off!
• Mix together the dried parsley, dried thyme, garlic powder, cayenne, flour, salt, and pepper
• Place the buttermilk in a bowl and completely cover each chicken piece with the buttermilk
• Next, completely coat the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour mix
• Once they’re all coated, heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or a pot. The oil should be sizzling hot.
• Fry the chicken in small batches until each piece is golden. Remove each piece, place on a tray with kitchen paper (to absorb the oil), and keep warm – a low heat or the bottom shelf of a hot oven will suffice, as they’ll only be there for a few minutes.