Umami Fried Chicken

marilynfl

Moderator
From "The Peached Tortilla: Modern Asian Comfort Food from Tokyo to Texas" by Eric Silverstein, restaurant and food truck in Austin, Texas.

This definitely has potential...I'm just not sure I'm the one to find it. My track record with fried chicken is...well, it isn't. So when I read this recipe and realized all the ingredients were in my pantry, I decided "what the hell...let's give fried chicken one more try." This is angst and frustration and a grease-splattered kitchen turned inside out...also known as Hope.

Marinated Chicken (made the day before and refrigerated)

1 C fish sauce

1/4 C rice wine vinegar

1/2 C sugar

1 C water

2 TBL fresh lime juice

2 TBL Chili Garlic sauce

6 cloves garlic

1 3.5 - 4 lb chicken, broken into 8 pieces

Puree the marinade, pour over chicken and refrigerate overnight.

Coating:

1.5 C rice flour

1.5 C cold water

2 Quarts oil for frying

1. Preheat oven to 350 and bake chicken for 30 minutes or until thickest part (breast) is ~165 degrees. When chicken is at room temperature, put it in the refrigerator to chill until cold to touch.

2. Mix batter and stir before each coating of chicken as the water will separate from the rice flour.

3. Heat oil to 350 degrees, dip each piece and fry for 2-3 minutes. Do not let it get dark brown or burnt.

4. Remove and let sit on cooling rack for 2 minutes before serving.

Marilyn's Notes:

Marinade: I was afraid of fishiness so I only used 2/3 C fish sauce along with 2/3 C of water. Everything else was kept the same. Well, except I was also afraid of six cloves of garlic, so I used only three and then only sliced them in half, rather than pureeing it. Turns out I was wrong. You can barely taste that amount of garlic. Also, I just admitted to being afraid of two common food ingredients. No wonder I have nightmares.

Baking the chicken: I marinated, then baked 3 boneless, skinless half breasts (tenderloin already removed, cut into 2 pieces each) because that's what I had readily available. I used my TermoWorks probe thermometer and set it for 162 degrees. Result: I thought Stage One (the marinated and baked meat) was tough and slightly dry. I've been marinating my breasts (the chickens, not mine, obviously) in buttermilk and either baking or pan-frying them. These have been moist and succulent and that's what I'd been hoping for with this recipe. I didn't get that. Maybe having the skin removed made a difference? Whatever, this step needs work.

Batter: Since I was only coating a few pieces of breast, I used 1/2 C rice flour and 1/2 C cold water. To that I added a TBL of tapioca flour since I loved the crunchiness it gave to that cauliflower steak recipe. Also added some Tennessee Sunshine Hot Sauce as the chicken wasn't spicy at all.

Frying the chicken: This step was the key reason I tried his recipe. Since you only fry for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the batter, I figured I could handle that without totally messing up. And it did work perfectly, eliminating my fear that chicken would be undercooked, as is the case when frying from raw.

End result...slightly tough and a bit dry, but a nice crunchy coating. The thick parts were moister than the edges, obviously. I think with a bit more seasoning in the marinade and a shortened baking time, it could work out. Just loved the idea you could do all the work ahead of time and only have to fry 2-3 minutes to end up with fried chicken pieces.

PS: I've linked my last fried chicken experience as a reminder not to do this. Similar to how insane doctors used shock treatments to break bad habits of their (typically female) patients. I'm pretty sure a lobotomy is next up on my treatment schedule.

https://finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=166542

 
The real secret of fried chicken?

From a country girl who grew up eating a lot of fried chicken at granny’s, the real secret was the little 2.5 to 3 pound chickens that are hard to find now. Little pieces got done without burning the crust. Even those small chicken breasts were made smaller by cutting a “pulley bone” piece when you cut the chicken up.

 
I took a class from Stephen Schmidt in 1992 where I learned that poultry should be removed from

the oven or heat source when the internal temperature is approximately 155 degrees. In my notes I wrote:

Remove from Oven: 155 degrees to 160 degrees F.
Final Temperature after resting: 160 degrees to 170 degrees F.

This is the ideal point of doneness for chicken and turkey. At this temperature, poultry is ivory-colored, juicy, and firm but not hard. There may be traces of pinkish flesh and pinkish juices in the very interior and near the bones, but this will only be discernible if the light is strong. There will be no suggestion of fibrousness or of a hemp-ropelike dryness.

In his cookbook MASTER RECIPES, published in 1987, his temperature ranges for poultry were written a bit higher--
Remove from oven 155 degrees to 165 degrees F. and
Final Temperature 160 degrees to 175 degrees F.
BUT I HAVE ALWAYS FOLLOWED the lower 155 degrees STEPHEN TOLD US IN CLASS and have consistently avoided serving dried-out chicken or turkey.

 
Gotcha. Thanks. My wife can't take too much fish sauce because it is usually made...

...from shrimp, not fish. She has a sensitivity to shellfish.

Michael

 
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