Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Crunchy crunchy crunchy! There isn’t fried chicken without a thick skin covering some plump juice filled meat inside. This recipe will help you achieve fried chicken above and beyond what you’re use too in fast food chains. The key to great fried chicken is TIME! This is not a recipe that you will be whipping together last minute; rather, the star of the dinner spread for a dinner party that contains your blood sweat and tears! Forget everything you know about fried chicken, put grandmas recipe away for when she comes over so you can still impress her. 

We will be integrating traditional southern buttermilk fried chicken, with a tasty umami twist. Umami is the sixth flavor our taste palate can sense. Behind salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter, there is umami. The large taste buds that sit in the middle of the tounge can sense umami. It’s basically an intense savoriness that flavors the dishes we love. Cheese is a great example of umami, but instead of cheese for this recipe we will be using buttermilk. 

Buttermilk is such a magical ingredient; at first glance and smell, youre likely ready to throw this spoiled milk away but DONT! Use it in biscuits, chicken, and even make it into ranch as a dipping sauce. Our chicken will be maranating in it for 8-12 hours or overnight. We will be seasoning it too, to pack a punch of delicious flavor. So here’s what you’ll need: 

For the maranaide/brine you will place an entire chicken cut up into a bowl. Rub down with all dry spices and salt our buttermilk on top. This is what you will need: 

1 quart of buttermilk

4 eggs 

2 Garlic cloves minced 

1 tablespoon Himalayan salt ground 

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cayenne powder 

2 tablespoon ground paprika 

2 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1 tablespoon ground sage 

2 teaspoons oregano 

Let marinate in the fridge for Atleast 8 hours but best overnight.Now after your chicken has marinated, prepare the coating, we will be using all purpose flour as the base: 

2 cups all purpose flour 

2 teaspoons oregano 

1 tablespoon paprika 

1 teaspooon chili powder 

3 teaspoons rosemary 

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons black pepper pepper 

2 teaspoons salt 

2 teaspoons sage 

 

Mix in all spices into flour, shake excess marinade off of chicken then place in flour mixture. Press coating hard into chicken to create a nice coating. Preheat vegetable oil to 350F/176C and deep fry for 12-15 mins until golden brown. Make sure to cut into your thickest piece chicken to make sure it’s done, and turn pieces of chicken around while cooking every 3mins. Lastly, enjoy some finger licking fried chicken! Serve alongside mashed potatoes and fried okra for a good southern meal!