Quite a long time now... I've been trying to figure out Crispy Fried Chicken. Like restaurants have.
I knew people who had said "But it's so simple!"... and I tried their suggestions, but it didn't work. I got well cooked, coated chicken.. but where was the crisp? The crunch? The little bubbles in the batter that delivered the awesome texture (and fat deposits!
Well yes, some of you may be saying... "But it's so simple!" still... but for those of you who aren't... I finally have it figured out!
My last few batches of chicken were BETTER than KFC! Maybe not better than Chilis Chicken Crispers... Alllllmost to the level of Popeyes.... But can definitely beat Long John Silvers! .... Can you tell I'm somewhat of a fried chicken connoisseur??
And now it can be made from farm fresh chickens... for those who have chickens.. we don't at the moment.
Moving on....I shall share my marvelous breakthrough with you all! .... It's very nice of me
Marvelous answer is that you do NOT need a deep fryer. Although I'm sure one would only bring more to the crunch level, it is not necessary.
Here is what we need -
Chicken. (When I say fried chicken, I mean Chicken Strips, but this method will work for all chicken body parts
VEGETABLE Oil. (an important distinction I have found... canola had poor results)
SELF-RISING Flour. (The most extremely important distiction, don't say regular "Will do".... it won't)
Egg Whites.
You will also need a big deep frying pan, but I would hope you already have one
Crack eggs in bowl. I found I used one egg per breast of chicken (mind I did cut them into strips, but thats the approximate ratio).
*Carefully* use spoon to remove yolks from whites. Do something with the yolks. We give them to the dogs
Use fork or whisk to beat egg whites until you have a thick froth on top. I usually say "It's good enough" when my hand gets tired. But I have found that more froth = more bubbles in fried chicken.
Cover plate with plenty of Self Rising Flour... add seasoning to flour if you need to.. but I prefer plain.
Dip prepared chicken in egg white, then place in flour, cover, and press. YES, this method is more work intensive then the baggy method... but have you ever noticed how pithily chicken gets coated in the baggie method? This way yeilds FAR better results. Press flour into chicken well.
I like to keep my fork and give my egg whites a fast couple beats between every peice of chicken. This brings back up the froth, which as we know, equals more bubbles.
After you've done all your chicken, take it all back through and double dip and coat them.
ADD an inch or two of Vegetable Oil to deep frying pan and heat on high or whatever works for your stove.
Test oil by tossing a fallen bit of batter or two in there. When it makes noise and bubbles and maybe dances around, the oil is hot enough. I found I didn't like the results too much with the canola oil to start with... the color and crispiness of the Vegetable oil chicken is FAR better.
Place chicken in hot oil. Fry as you would normally fry chicken in a pan.
Try not to burn either side.. and try not to scrape the batter off with whatever you are using to turn the peices.
With this method I have achieved some BEAUTIFUL batches of chicken strips... sellable even... if one could sell homecooked food
I think you can too. But if you deviate from the method, it's not my fault, whatever happens
If anyone shows interest... next time I make a batch in the next day or two, I'll take a picture.
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