a fried chicken guide + recipe
HOT HONEY FRIED CHICKEN with sesame buns, slaw, TWO pickles and sriracha mayo. Smash.
What I’m reading: The Vittles Gift Guide - a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but there’s some gems here
What I’m listening to: James Hoffmann speaking about coffee on Steven Bartlett’s podcast. Really interesting, especially if you drink large amounts of coffee (like me)
What I’m eating: tacos!! At Broke Boy Tacos in Auckland. Birria with all the trimmings and consommé - made my heart (and my stomach) very happy indeed
We’ve started a tradition of Sunday dinner at our little house in Mount Eden, Auckland. Thus far, it’s been mostly roast dinners (plus some excellent meatballs made by my friend Soph). This week, however, I had a very specific craving, and a whole day with nothing to do except nurse a hangover and plan each detail of this meal.
Fried chicken. I’ll be honest, I haven’t eaten enough fried chicken to consider myself a connoisseur. I do, however, know exactly what I want from a fried chicken sandwich. The best fried chicken sammy I had had (until last weekend) was made by my friend Alex, in the neighbouring cabin at Ballymaloe House. Alex makes exceptional fried chicken, and his calling card is that he incorporates onion into almost every element of the sandwich - mayo, bun, pickle etc. I remember eating his fried chicken sandwich around this time last year, and mentally bookmarking it as a future project.
And it really is a fun project: if you have a day to kill, and want to make your nearest and dearest very happy, I highly recommend that you make this sandwich this weekend. I can confirm that it was 100% worth the effort to see the facial expressions of my housemates when we all tucked in (in a rare moment of silence) last Sunday. It’s essential that you use boneless chicken thighs, which you’ll pound to tenderise and increase surface level (for even frying and optimal crispiness).
There are several elements - so the accompanying recipe PDF is slightly chaotic - but it’s actually a fairly straightforward meal to make. It’s very easily done with a small amount of prep, and the rest while enjoying a few beers. You can also swap out multiple elements of this: use shop-bought mayo/aioli, if you’re not bothered (fair enough), and you can buy decent pickles too. The slaw is easy to make, but by all means, buy your favourite slaw instead. All elements, apart from the chicken, can be made in advance. That way, you can fully set the table, and fry the chicken last minute, before letting your friends build their own perfect fried chicken sandwich. I served mine with sweet potato wedges, but it’s not essential.
I will, however, insist that you make your own buns. These are soft, pillowy brioche buns, significantly improved by the addition of tangzhong - an Asian bread technique which involves making a roux, and incorporating it into the dough. Before you lose interest, please stay with me - it’s really not that hard to make, and is a really quick way to make your buns extra soft and squishy and perfect. The buns are flexible too: you can make the dough the night before, and do the bulk prove overnight, or make the dough in the morning and let it prove slowly in the fridge during the day, before shaping, proving and baking in the evening. The chicken benefits from a longer bath in the buttermilk, so you can prepare the first step the night before, or in the morning.
My main goal here, aside from flavour, is texture. The bread is soft and pillowy, the aioli is velvety and creamy, providing the perfect foil for crispy fried chicken and crunchy pickles and slaw. The chicken is glazed with hot honey immediately after frying, so it’s glossy and tender and perfect.
Don’t be afraid of deep-frying at home. It’s very achievable, and once you’ve nailed fried chicken, your eyes will be opened to a whole world of doughnuts, fried fish, chips, etc. etc. Just be sure to keep a close eye on the temperature, and keep handles and hot oil far away from children.
Without further ado, you’ll find the recipes below. Free subscribers get the recipe for the buns, and paid subscribers get the whole shebang in a handy downloadable PDF.
** I probably will end up posting the whole recipe on my Instagram tomorrow, though, so keep an eye out - it’s too good not to share x
Recipe: soft sesame buns
Tangzhong:
110g water
25g flour
Dough:
120g milk
1 egg
8g instant yeast
340g strong white bread flour
30g caster sugar
7g salt
35g soft butter
To finish:
1 egg
Sesame seeds
First, make the tangzhong. Place the water and flour in a saucepan over a medium heat and whisk until it thickens and starts to bubble. It should look like a thick paste or roux. Allow to cool to room temperature.
For the dough, place the tangzhong, milk, egg, yeast, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer with a hook attachment if you have one). Mix to combine, and then knead for 5-10 minutes - it will take slightly longer by hand, but should eventually form a smooth dough that doesn’t tear easily. Add the soft butter in a few increments, and continue kneading until you have a smooth dough again. It may split briefly, but should come back together.
Place this dough in an oiled bowl, and allow to prove until doubled in size - overnight in the fridge, or 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Divide the dough into 110g pieces, and shape into neat balls. Place these, spaced out, on a lined baking tray, cover loosely with a tea towel, and prove until puffy and doubled in size (about 1-2 hours, depending on the ambient temperature).
Beat the egg, and use a pastry brush to egg wash the top of the buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Preheat the oven to 200C, with a baking tray at the bottom of the oven. When the buns are proved, place in the oven, and at the same time, throw a few ice cubes in the tray at the bottom. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down the oven to 180C and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, turning halfway if they are not colouring evenly.
Recipe: fried chicken sandwiches
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