Hairy Bikers southern fried chicken is fried and then roasted, not fried all the way through. Each piece gets two or three minutes a side in oil, then fifteen minutes in the oven on a rack. The recipe is in Chicken & Egg and feeds six at about 640 calories.
They cooked this on the American leg of their chicken trip and made two changes to the traditional method. The chicken marinates in buttermilk to keep it juicy, and a slug of Worcestershire sauce goes in with it.
Watch the oil temperature between batches, not just at the start. It needs to be back at 180°C before the next four pieces go in.
Hairy Bikers Southern Fried Chicken
Description
The chicken sits in buttermilk for at least two hours before it sees any flour. Paprika, cayenne, thyme and oregano season the coating. Frying happens in batches of four, then everything finishes together in the oven on a rack.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken: Put the chicken in a bowl or shallow dish and pour over the buttermilk and Worcestershire sauce. Toss to coat, cover with cling film and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 4.
- Mix the coating: Put the flour in a large shallow dish with the salt, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, thyme and oregano. Mix well.
- Heat the oil: Pour the oil into a large saucepan or deep frying pan over a medium high heat. Use a thermometer and bring it to 180°C. Never leave hot oil unattended.
- Coat four pieces: Shake a piece of chicken lightly to remove excess buttermilk, then turn it in the spiced flour until well coated and put it on a plate. Do the same with three more pieces.
- Fry in batches: Carefully add the coated chicken to the oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes each side, until golden brown and crisp. Lift it out onto kitchen paper. Scoop any loose batter out of the oil, bring the temperature back up and fry the rest.
- Finish in the oven: Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Put all the chicken on a rack set over a baking tray, which keeps it crisp, and bake for 15 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve: Drain on fresh kitchen paper and serve hot, with fritters, waffles and maple syrup.
FAQs
Why fry it and then roast it?
Because eight pieces will not fry properly at once. Their reason in the book is practical: part frying and part roasting lets you cook more pieces at a time and feed more people.
Frying gets the crust on in a few minutes, and the oven finishes the meat through to the bone. It also means the coating is not sitting in hot oil for the fifteen or twenty minutes a thigh needs.
What does the buttermilk do?
It keeps the chicken juicy, which is why they added it to the traditional method. Two to four hours is the window given, and it also helps the flour stick.
Shake each piece before it goes in the flour, since too much buttermilk clinging to it makes the coating claggy rather than crisp. Their buffalo wings use 100ml of buttermilk the same way before frying.
Does the oil temperature really matter?
More than anything else here. The oil starts at 180°C, and frying four pieces at once drops it immediately, so it has to climb back before the next batch.
The recipe warns that below 160°C the chicken will not be as crisp. Scoop out loose bits of batter between batches too, because they burn and taint the oil.
Can I skip the Worcestershire sauce?
Yes, it is marked optional, and it is their own addition rather than part of the traditional recipe. One tablespoon goes into 250ml of buttermilk.
It adds a savoury depth rather than anything you would identify as Worcestershire sauce. The oregano is optional too, so the paprika, cayenne and thyme are the parts that really matter.
What do I serve with it?
Sweetcorn fritters, waffles and maple syrup, which is how the recipe is titled and served in the book. That sweet and salty combination is the point of the dish.
If that is too much, coleslaw and pickles work. Their chicken parmo is the other big breadcrumbed chicken on the site at 630 calories, though that one is baked rather than fried.
