Ultimate fried chicken with a hybrid tempura batter
Binging with Babish · ♥ 35K likes · 1M views · 36 min video
Read about chicken in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
Dry brine rather than wet brine; a wet brine adds moisture that turns to steam and opens a gap between the meat and the breading.
Sprinkle the chicken with the salt blend; it draws moisture out and the moisture is reabsorbed after about 45 minutes to an hour, leaving a tacky exterior that clings to batter.
- ½ cup kosher salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp celery salt
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp ground mustard
- ¼–½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp MSG
- buttermilk
- egg
Mix the kosher salt with the garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, celery salt, sweet paprika, ground mustard, cayenne and MSG.
Bread fresh rather than letting the breaded chicken rest; the rested one had the bigger gap.
Double fry, low then high; a single fry at 375 browns faster but forms fewer craggles and a less crisp crust.
- refined lard
- refined peanut oil
Mix equal parts refined lard and refined peanut oil and melt them together.
Choosing the frying fat
- 75 g all-purpose flour
- 50 g potato starch
- salt
- 100 g buttermilk
- 30 g liquid egg whites
Whisk the flour, potato starch and a pinch of salt in a tall narrow bowl to break up any lumps.
- 25 g vodka
- 120 g cold seltzer
Add the buttermilk, liquid egg whites, vodka and cold seltzer and fold rather than whisk; lumps are fine, over-mixing turns it gummy. Aim for the consistency of a lumpy thin paint or a very thick cream.
- 300 g all purpose flour
- salt
- 50 g white rice flour
In a wide shallow bowl combine the flour, a hefty pinch of salt and the white rice flour, then rub in a spoonful of the wet batter to make craggles.
- chicken
Dip the chicken in the batter, then straight into the dry mix and cover it immediately before tossing, or the wet smudges off.
Par-fry at about 320, letting the chicken bring it down to 300, until only blonde in colour; slow and low cooks the chicken nearly through.
Rest the par-fried chicken at room temperature about 30 minutes, or wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Strain the oil, which is now full of particulate that would burn at the higher temperature.
Bring the oil up to about 375 and fry the cooled chicken a second time; it spits as the moisture in the crust cooks off. Dark meat pieces should finish around 185.