| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 5 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 5 hr |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Few dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
- 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 8 or 10 pieces
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol powder
- 1 3/4 cup cold water
- 10 cups canola oil
- Fine sea salt
Instructions
- For the marinade: In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk, sugar, salt, and hot sauce until combined. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
- Remove the chicken from the buttermilk marinade and pat completely dry. Place the chicken on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before frying.
- For the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and chile de arbol until combined. Slowly whisk in the water and whisk until smooth. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large Dutch oven. Transfer half the chicken into the batter. Remove the chicken, 1 piece at a time, from the batter (allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl) and carefully transfer to the oil. Fry the chicken, adjusting the burner as necessary to maintain the oil temperature between 300 and 325 degrees F, until deep golden brown and just cooked through, about 12 minutes. Drain the chicken on paper towels and then transfer to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and season with a little fine sea salt. Bring the oil back to 350 degrees F and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1939 |
| Total Fat | 156 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22 g |
| Carbohydrates | 65 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 11 g |
| Protein | 67 g |
| Cholesterol | 239 mg |
| Sodium | 2135 mg |
Reviews
Love this! Love the smooth texture was like eating @ Long John Silvers…I used chicken tenders cooked them in the oven for about 10 min though (per one of the Beat Bobby Flay shows) & battered in GF flour mix & still tasted amazing! Sooooooo moist!! Family loved & requested again!
I absolutely love this recipe, I prefer making them chicken tenders though. The way the batter makes them so crispy is absolutely amazing. It reminds me of the crispy long John silvers batter from my childhood. 10/10 would recommend!
Turned out great. I used Cajun seasoning instead of the one used. Marinated for 24 hours.
Great!!
While the cook time and temp were spot on, I just didn’t think texture or flavors were right.
Delicious! I messed up the measurements when making the batter but it still turned out really well.
It all look good tasted good
In the video it looks like he used flour to coat after batter….but the written recipe doesn’t make note. Thoughts??
I made this for Sunday dinner. It’s labor intensive, yet worth every minute of preparation. It was so good, that my wife who dislikes chicken thighs, even ate them. Make sure you get your oil hot!
This batter turned out great, and most of the poor reviews are for people who undercooked their chicken and obviously didn’t use hot enough oil.