Fried Chicken. Keller meets Chang.

Okay, high speed internet is finally back up and running here. We had to get a new contract, because my one flatmate moved out. Things are finally getting back to normal. We got new furniture, a lot of new stuff for the kitchen and it’s nice and peaceful around here. The only bad thing at the moment is, that I have massive pain in my ears, which kind of distracts me from everything I do. I hope it’ll get better and i’ll get some proper sleep next night.

Well, cooking wise there were some nice things last week. Let’s just start with the fried chicken. We all know it, we all love it. And it’s just so much fun having a fried chicken party at home that ends with you deep frying all stuff that comes to mind for dessert. We tried deep fried marshmallows filled with chocolate and a lot of other delicious things and – unfortunately – also some really disgusting stuff.

There are two major fried chicken recipes that get hyped a lot on the blogs. First of all, Thomas Keller’s Recipe: The chicken pieces sit in a brine with a lot of lemon and some herbs for about 24 hours and are then coated with buttermilk and flour and deep fried.

The second recipe is by my all-time favourite, David Chang. The chicken pieces also sit in a brine, but a lot of sugar is added to it and it’s way more neutral than the Keller brine. Afterwards the chicken is cooked by steaming it for about 40 minutes. It is then cooled down and finished by deep frying without any coating. This results in perfectly juice, not too fatty chicken pieces with an extremely tasty and crunchy skin. It is best eaten after being tossed with David Chang’s “Octo Vinaigrette”.

Well, I had Thomas Keller’s fried chicken before. It was amazing. I wanted to do it again, but suddenly, while making the brine I thought about the Chang recipe. The thought of deep frying chicken without coating was exactly what I was craving. So, I just left out the rosemary, thyme and parsley and added some more of the honey. Afterwards I went the Chang way of steaming, cooling down and deep frying. I just put a little Octo Vin on it and I think it was by far the best (fried) chicken I have ever laid my lips on.

I didn’t try the original David Chang recipe yet, so I can’t compare, but i think I really enjoyed the lemon, bay and black pepper aroma coming from the brine with the Octo Vin. We’ll I might just make some of both, or all three, variations and compare them directly.

Ingredients:
adapted from David Chang & Thomas Keller
serves 2

Brine
8 cups of water
1/3 cup of kosher salt
1/2 cup of honey
6 bay leaves
10 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
3/4 tbsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice

Other
1 whole chicken
6 – 8 cups of grape seed or peanut oil, for deep frying

Put all of the brine ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir until all of the salt has dissolved. Let the brine cool down.

Clean chicken and cut into 8 pieces. Put the chicken pieces into the brine, making sure they are completely submerged.

After about 24 hours take out the chicken pieces and pat them dry. Put them into a bamboo steamer and steam for about 40 minutes until they are all cooked through. Set aside and let them cool down for at least 2 to 3 hours.

Heat up your oil in a large pan or deep fryer to blasjnkfsedfd degrees. Deep fry the chicken in batches for about 6 to 8 minutes, until nicely browned and crunchy.

Serve immediately, tossed with some Octo Vin if you have it.