KFC – Kit’s Fried Chicken

The Original KFC Recipe

 Thankyou Google search engines.

Okay, so this is another variant recipe from one I found on the net, and a meal I just remembered after cooking onion rings recently.

I originally got a Southern Fried Chicken recipe off SBS’s Food Safari, the US series, about four years ago… and their recipe is not bad.  But it requires you to fry the chicken for so long in the oil that the outside is like a burnt brick in order to get the meat cooked all the way to the bone (perhaps they use smaller chickens / chicken pieces, and have the lard not too hot).  But nobody wants you eating raw chicken.

The super trick to this recipe is cutting up the chicken the day before and letting it soak in buttermilk, which keeps the chicken deliciously moist and tender.

Ingredients:

A chicken (for Easter, I used two, a large and a small one - free range, of course).

A container of Buttermilk (600 ml)

Two eggs

Two cups of flour

“11 secret herbs and spices”

The top two are the most important and really give the coating that “American fried chicken” flavour:

1.     Smoked paprika* - 2 tablespoons

2.     Dried tarragon* - 2 tablespoons

Then you use other types of pepper

3.     Sweet Hungarian paprika – 1 tablespoon

4.     Cayenne pepper – 1 teaspoon

5.     Ground chili powder – 1 teaspoon

6.     Black pepper – ½ tablespoon

7.     White pepper – 1 teaspoon

Then variously include flavour enhancers such as:

8.     Salt – 3 teaspoons

9.     Onion powder – 2 teaspoons

10. Garlic Powder – 2 teaspoons

11. White sugar (well this is an American recipe, so you have to put sugar in everything) – 2 teaspoons

You can also throw in other things, like mixed herbs (oregano, dried basil, etc.), or as I did on this occasion a concoction called “lemon pepper”.  You could probably even throw in MSG if you had any handy. On occasion, I’ve beaten the Colonel’s spices by six ingredients.

One block of lard (for frying) / Or vegetable oil if you want to be halal.

Method:

The first trick is to cut your chicken into pieces.  Use your kitchen shears for this, cutting off, variously:

• Wings
• Legs and thighs (Marylands, but separated)
• Breast meat chunks: Use the shears to cut the entire breast off the back, and then with your biggest carving knife slice straight down the breast bone and through.  Then cut each breast half in half again. 

Save the discarded chicken spine for stock by putting it in a bag in the freezer.

Put the pieces into buttermilk to soak overnight.

Next day, beat the eggs in a small bowl, and in a large bowl combine the dry ingredients (flour and the 11 secret herbs and spices).

Dip the pieces of chicken in egg, then roll them in the "flour and herbs and spices" mix.

Heat the oil in a skillet, deep enough so that it comes half way up the sides of the chicken pieces.

Fry the pieces in small groups for three to four minutes or so on each side, until golden and delicious looking (but not overdone) and put on a wire rack to drain while you do the other pieces.  This takes some time and will require your vigilance.

To finish, put the wire rack covered in pieces of delicious KFC into the oven and bake at a moderate temperature (180 C / 350 F) for at least half an hour.  Remove and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.

I served this at Easter lunch with some success with corn bread (see Elizabeth Karmel’s recipe here), coleslaw, baked potatoes and Lucy’s green salad.

Seven tentacles out of eight, but a “sometimes” food.  Enjoy.

p.s. To see the SBS version, visit:

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/food-safaris-southern-fried-chicken