Recipe228 kcal per 100 g

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Crunchy Coating

Chicken breast in the style of the American South: a night in salted buttermilk keeps the meat juicy and tender, and a coating of flour, cornstarch and paprika sets into a craggy, crunchy crust. The breast is cut into thin pieces so it cooks through before it dries out. Only the absorbed oil is included in the calories.

Recipe yield:
900 g
ingredients:
9
steps:
7
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Nutrition per 100 g

Calories
227.9kcal
Protein
21.5g
Fat
10.4g
Carbohydrates
10.2g
Fiber:
0.6 g
Sugars:
0.5 g

About the recipe

Why buttermilk

Buttermilk is a cultured dairy product with gentle acidity. That makes it an ideal marinade: acid and calcium loosen the muscle fibres, while the salt dissolved in the buttermilk acts as a brine and holds moisture inside the meat. The result is a juicy breast, a cut that usually turns out dry. Vinegar and lemon marinades act more harshly and can make the surface of the chicken mushy. Thick buttermilk also leaves a thin, tacky layer on the meat that the coating grips beautifully.

This technique is the foundation of Southern American cooking, where fried chicken has been made in cast-iron skillets for centuries. Today buttermilk fried chicken is served everywhere from family diners to fine-dining restaurants that treat it as a gastronomic dish in its own right.

Breast versus thigh

Fried chicken is traditionally made with thighs and drumsticks: they have more fat and connective tissue and forgive overcooking. Breast tastes best when not overcooked, so it is sliced lengthways into thin pieces 1.5–2 cm thick. A thin piece cooks through in 5–6 minutes — exactly the time the crust needs.

Crunch that lasts

The secret of a craggy crust lies in two details.

Starch in the flour. Cornstarch does not form gluten, so a coating with it is lighter and more brittle rather than bready. A ratio of about 4:1 gives both strength and crunch.

A few spoonfuls of buttermilk in the flour. Rubbing 2–3 tablespoons of the marinade into the flour before dredging creates small clumps. They stick to the chicken and turn into those characteristic crunchy flakes.

Let the coated pieces rest on a rack for 10–15 minutes: the flour absorbs moisture and sets, so the crust does not fall off during frying.

Temperature

Heat the oil to 175 °C. As soon as the chicken goes in, the temperature drops to 150–160 °C, and it should be held in that range. Oil that is too cool soaks the coating with fat; oil that is too hot burns it before the meat is cooked. The chicken should reach 74 °C inside.

About the oil

You will need about 1.5 litres of oil for frying, but only a small part ends up in the food — at the right temperature about 7–8% of the weight of the cooked chicken. That amount is what the calculation includes.

Serving

Put fried chicken on a rack, not on paper: on paper the underside turns soggy. Serve with coleslaw, cornbread, hot honey or simply with lemon wedges.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1

    Slice 800 g of chicken breast in half lengthways to make 8 pieces 1.5–2 cm thick.

  2. 2

    Marinade: mix 300 ml of buttermilk with 8 g of salt, half the paprika and half the garlic powder. Submerge the chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

  3. 3

    Coating: in a wide bowl mix 150 g of flour, 20 g of cornstarch, 2 g of salt, the remaining paprika and garlic powder, and 2 g of black pepper. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the marinade and rub with your fingertips to form small clumps.

  4. 4

    Lift the chicken pieces out one at a time, let excess buttermilk drip off and dredge firmly in the coating, pressing with your palm. Place on a rack and leave for 10–15 minutes for the coating to set.

  5. 5

    Heat 1.5 litres of sunflower oil in a deep pot or cast-iron Dutch oven to 175 °C.

  6. 6

    Fry the chicken 3–4 pieces at a time for 5–7 minutes, turning once and keeping the oil at 150–160 °C, until the crust is deep golden and the centre of each piece reaches 74 °C.

  7. 7

    Transfer the chicken to a rack and rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Serving sizes

  • 1 кусок (1/2 грудки) — 113 g
  • 1 порция (2 куска) — 225 g