What does the Colonel know??

Fried Chicken, burgers and doughnuts; the three things I would eat over and over again if I wasn't worried about dying early. Recently I have been having massive cravings for the Southern Fried goodness. It’s hard to turn a corner of London without finding a burger joint which is no bad thing because it provides people with plenty of choice but one thing I think the capital is lacking is establishments providing decent fried chicken. There are a couple of places though that I've been really impressed by, the first is Mother Clucker They can be found in their food truck located at the Truman Brewery near Liverpool Street. Everytime I'm feeling pissed off about something I go to Mother Clucker and order the meal deal, a Cluckwitch with fries and a drink. This Cluckwitch is no joke, I love watching them tower the strips of golden crispy chicken on the bun. The coating is so crispy, and the meat tender. The hot sauce gives the Cluckwitch the perfect amount of heat and it doesn't overpower the flavour of the chicken. For me this is one of the best comfort foods in London. For £7 you get the towering Cluckwitch, fries and a drink, can’t really go wrong with that.

Cluckwitch from Mother Clucker

Another place that I went to recently was Lockhart just off Marblearch Tube station.There is so  much I like about this place, the friendly staff, the relaxed atmosphere, the basement bar and of course the food. The 2 things I came specifically for were the fried chicken and doughnuts. The chicken was on the menu but sadly the doughnuts are only served on a Sunday. I notice immediately that the Lockhart chicken doesn't have a trace of excess grease. This is so far removed from the near slimy chicken they serve at KFC. I'm not a KFC snob, and I'm more than happy to satisfy my fast food cravings with the Colonel’s chicken every now and then but the Lockhart chicken is on a totally different level. It was one of the juiciest fried chickens I've ever had but it was the coating which I loved. It was so crispy, fried to perfection, and as mentioned there was a significant lack of grease. I'm never sure what the etiquette is with using your fingers to eat in restaurants, but when the food is this good I don’t really care, I hate wasting meat so I strip the bone of all its worth. At £12 it’s a slightly pricier bird, but you get 2 perfectly cooked pieces of chicken, sweet potato mash and broccoli.

 

Fried Chicken at Lockhart

So now is my take on fried chicken. It’s a fairly simple process but like a lot of things, if you want it done well it takes time. The act of brining helps make the meat you’re cooking with become juicier by absorbing the solution during brining. Meat naturally loses fluid when it is cooked but because it has taken in more liquid during brining it ends up juicier. Soaking it in buttermilk helps break down the meat thus tenderizing it and reducing the cooking time. This is near enough 24 hours of marination just for fried chicken, but it really is worth it. This recipe fed a family of 6 very comfortably

Ingredients  

½ cup of sea salt flakes

2 litres of cold water

6 drumsticks, 4 thighs, 3 breasts

1 litre of buttermilk

1.5 litre of vegetable oil (or enough to shallow fry)

1 cup of plain flour

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of paprika

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoons of chilli flakes

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of salt

Process

1.    To make the brine you need to stir sea salt into cold water until dissolved. Put the chicken into a bowl and immerse the chicken in brine. Make sure all the chicken is under. Place in a fridge for 8-12 hours.

2.     Drain the brined chicken, and place onto a plate. Wash out the bowl making sure it’s clear of any brine. Place the chicken back into the bowl and pour over the buttermilk (buttermilk can be found in most supermarkets near the milk and double cream).  Cover with cling film and place back in the fridge for 8-12 hours.

3.    An hour before you’re ready to fry, prepare your flour coating. In a shallow bowl mix together the flour, cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and mix it well.

4.    Pour away the buttermilk out of the bowl and place the buttermilk chicken on a wire rack allowing some excess buttermilk to run off. You still need some buttermilk on the chicken to help the flour stick to it.

5.    Dredge the chicken through the flour mixture making sure the entire piece is coated with flour. Pat down to remove any excess flour.

6.    Heat up the oil in a pan big enough to allow you to shallow fry. I've never been great with frying, without a thermometer I heat up the oil so it starts to bubble. Throw in a piece of bread to test the heat, if it crisps up too quickly turn down the heat . I experimented using lard and butter. I didn't like the smell of lard so I've stuck to using vegetable oil, if cooked well you’ll still get a golden crispy chicken. If you do use lard and butter make sure you skim off the foam as it’s melting in your pan thus getting rid of some impurities in the lard.

7.    Using some tongs, place the chicken pieces into the pan of oil. It’s important not to overcrowd the pan because this will reduce the temperature and increase the cooking time. It’s hard to give a definitive cooking time but it takes roughly 10 minutes on each side. With something like a large thigh it will take a few minutes longer. Once in the pan do not move the chicken around too much because you will knock the coating off. Place in the pan on one side for 10 minutes, use your tongs to turn it over on to the other side. Regulate the heat accordingly, if you feel it’s browning too quickly, turn down the heat.

8.    Place the cooked chicken on the wire rack and kitchen towel, let any excess oil run off.

9.    It’s going to be piping hot, but once it’s cooled down I promise you it will be one the juiciest and crispiest fried chickens you’ve eaten and the bonus is you made it!