Real fried chicken needs patience and buttermilk

This is not a post about how good things take time, even though they normally do. But rather the interesting lesson I learned this weekend when I decided to make Southern-style fried chicken. When I think of Southern fried chicken I think of using buttermilk and a flour breading. The South being a place of fierce regional pride, there are of course lots of variations on the theme, but these ingredients seem to be the one constant. The night that I thought I was having fried chicken, I went to the store and picked up buttermilk, peanut oil, and the chicken. I thought I was ahead of the game, with the shopping done before dinner time. Then I consulted some recipes. They all suggested the same thing, let the chicken marinate in the buttermilk for 8-24 hours. And just like that, my craving for fried chicken was going to have to wait for one more night. I started to question why I wasn’t just going to buy fried chicken someplace where it comes in a bucket in under 5 minutes. 

I decided that I needed to know for myself if this overnight buttermilk bath would really give me the fried chicken of my dreams, and make me Ms. Popularity at upcoming summer picnics or barbecues. It’s not like it was hard, it just required some patience and planning ahead. So, I set out to make something else for dinner that night, after I put the chicken covered with buttermilk into the refrigerator to do its magic. The next night I pulled the chicken out and set up a bowl with flour and various spices to flavor the breading, and took out a heavy skillet and filled it with peanut oil to heat. A word on the oil choice – I chose peanut because everything I’ve read seemed to suggest its superior frying ability, since it can heat up to about 450 degrees Fahrenheit before it reaches the smoking point, which means you’re food will not burn quickly. Other sources suggest that traditional Southern fried chicken should be fried in lard flavored with some pork bits. I thought the peanut oil was a more accessible and slightly healthier alternative. (If you are tempted to try the lard method, I strongly suggest watching this video for the recipe from The Watershed, a restaurant in Atlanta known for its fried chicken).

It seemed simple enough, drain the chicken, dredge in flour, fry in the oil and set on a rack, before placing the whole batch in the oven for 10 minutes.

The draining and dredging was simple and quick. What did take longer than I expected was frying the whole batch of chicken up to a golden brown color. By the time I was done with the frying about an hour had passed. The chicken came out a golden brown and the breading was crispy and flavorful without being oily. It was hard to wait to dig in actually. The chicken comes out of the oil and goes onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain, to ensure that the bottom doesn’t get soggy and lose its breading. Once you take a bite, you’ll see that the buttermilk marinade was worth it, yielding a super juicy piece of meat.

This is not fast food, but in this case that is actually a good thing. Making homemade fried chicken let me control the quality of the chicken that I bought, so I was able to choose chicken that is humanely raised and fed a diet that does not include hormones or antibiotics. And, on top of that, this is a dish that does not require any advanced cooking techniques or expensive ingredients. You should master this recipe, because who doesn’t love fried chicken? You need to start it the night before, but it is such a satisfying meal to make, and an even more satisfying dish to eat, especially when you find a leftover piece in your fridge the next day that you can eat cold.

Southern-style Fried Chicken
If you can manage to save a few pieces, they are great cold the next day. To eat these in true Southern style use the extra buttermilk to make some biscuits and serve with butter, honey, and of course the chicken.

2-3 lbs chicken pieces (preferably antibiotic-free and humanely raised)
Buttermilk, enough to cover chicken, about 2 cups
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Peanut oil for frying (at least a small bottle)

Rinse the chicken and place in a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Turn the pieces around in there and make sure they are completely coated. Cover and place in the fridge for 8-24 hours to marinate.

The next day, take the chicken out and drain from the buttermilk. Set aside while you prep the flour mixture. In a separate shallow bowl or pie plate, mix the flour, cornstarch and spices together with a fork or a whisk.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for later. Bread the chicken by squeezing off excess buttermilk before placing a piece into flour mixture to dredge. Shake off excess flour and place into the pan with hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack over a baking sheet to drain. When finished frying all the pieces, place chicken in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Tagged as: chicken, Entrees, Southern food