5 Expert tips to make flavourful home made fried chicken – Delightfully yours

When it comes to fried chicken, ditch the thought of buying a whole chicken. Instead, your mantra must be to select the finest and chunkiest pieces of chicken from your grocery store that will serve as a prelude to what you could end up preparing. As a rule, avoid the chicken breasts for these parts take longer to cook and the last thing you need to be dealing with is delayed meal times or worse, undercooked chicken. Ideally speaking, opt for a mix of thighs and drumsticks which cook faster.

The dry brine technique is by far, the best way to guarantee the juiciness in the meat which is a prerequisite on the topic of fried chicken, regardless of whether it is home-made or served at fast food outlets such as Jollibee Philippines which is known for its food delivery services Philippines has to offer. The salting of the chicken can be done either overnight before placing same in the refrigerator or within half an hour of coating and frying the chicken in hot oil. Coming into direct contact with salt makes the chicken more moist, tender and flavourful at the time of eating.

If you’re wondering what separates good tasting fried chicken from great tasting fried chicken, then understand that the secret lies in not just the seasoning but making all elements of the seasoning come together in one explosion of flavour, texture and zest. In terms of preparation, you can get to work on a seasoning while the chicken sits salted and ready to be coated. Once you have all the right quantities of spices, one half of the seasoning must be carefully applied all over the meat while the remainder must be placed in the flour coating. In terms of advice, be generous with the seasoning as some of the spices will be left behind in the coating while the effect of same will be somewhat reduced as a result of the deep frying of the chicken.

Biting into a drumstick which bears a coating that is crispy, flaky and with deep ripples is a heavenly sensation. Better yet, pair that with a ketchup or thick gravy and you’re well on your way towards creating happier meal times. However, an excellent coating doesn’t just magically happen but in turn, requires work. For this stage of making home-made fried chicken, you will need egg white, alcohol and cornstarch. The egg white will help the coating stick to the chicken like glue while adding much needed protein. The value of alcohol cannot go unmentioned. This is because the use of alcohol sets the coating and goes a long way towards creating flaky layers on the outside. Finally, the cornstarch results in a tender coating where the protein in the flour is reduced to the required level.  

A frying pan complete with a shallow depth must be avoided at all costs. This is owing to the fact that such a utensil can be messy to manage and at the same time, dangerous given that there can be a risk of being burnt with hot oil. To make matters a tad easier, employ the services of a Dutch oven which arrives with high sides that minimises the threat of an oil splatter. Essentially, the oven’s heft aids in regulating the temperature of the oil as and when you do include and remove the chicken.