The best fried chicken ever; plus 3 finger-licking good recipes

Racks.

Marinade or deep fry, there's not one best recipe. But when done right, nothing beats the taste of deep fried chicken.

When Mary Randolph published the first American cookbook in 1824, The Virginia House-Wife, she wrote a recipe for fried chicken with one sentence: “Cut (the chicken) up as for the fricassee, dredge them well with flour, sprinkle them with salt, put them into a good quantity of boiling lard, and fry them a light brown.”

With some luck, you may get a passable fried chicken following her recipe.

Fried chicken has become wildly popular and a comfort food among Malaysians. The Time Out KL Food Awards has even added a Best Ayam Goreng to its 2014 winners list. Admit it, you'd be thrilled if someone published an entire cookbook on fried chicken. That’s how far we have evolved since the 1800s. 

Fried chicken is major, and recognising its popularity, one culinary school has a class devoted to how to do it well – for those wise enough not to leave it to luck.

“There is not just one way to fry chicken. There are many recipes around and there isn’t a best recipe,” says chef Jean Michel Fraisse of The French Culinary School in Asia whose The Art of Fried Chicken class over the weekend saw a good turnout. “The best recipe is the one that you like.” 

We know what the best fried chicken is: A large piece of batter-covered chicken that's fried to a golden brown colour, and holds the promise of being crispy and crunchy on the outside, with juicy and tender meat on the inside – and it can't be too oily.

“People are too focused on the texture of fried chicken and not the taste,” laments Fraisse. “They always want it to be crispy and crunchy but forget that it should also taste good.” Oops.

Season it well

Here’s where a good marinade can make all the difference. From ginger to paprika to garlic powder, many herbs and spices can be used as seasoning, or you can keep things simple with just plain salt and pepper.

It's best to marinate the chicken pieces overnight in the fridge. The chef’s advice is to bring it back to room temperature before frying, or it will need to stay longer in the oil to cook properly. The secret is to be generous with the salt in the marinade – salt helps to draw flavours into the meat and tenderise it as well.

Coat it twice

Fraisse’s technique for getting a dream crust is to apply a double coating of flour. Plain all-purpose flour will do, even though different flours will give slightly different results.

Be uniform: de-bone

All parts of a chicken can be used, and you can choose to bone-in or out. Fraisse recommends boneless chicken leg meat – drumstick and thigh – as they have more collagen and won’t dry out easily when fried.

Removing the bone makes the chicken easier to cook and eat. The skin should be left on; it's the most tasty and crunchy bits of the fried chicken and helps to keep in the moist. For more even cooking, cut the pieces into similar sizes.

The golden rule: 180?

Deep frying is cooking food in hot oil or fat. The oil extracts moisture from the food. The moisture is converted to steam which cooks the food inside out. Technically, the outside is fried while the inside is steamed. 

For the best results, Fraisse fries his chicken in medium high heat (150-160?). “Just before it reaches that nice golden brown colour, turn up the heat to finish the cooking.” This step ensures that the fried food isn't too greasy as the escaping steam will push some of the oil out. “But the temperature of the oil shouldn’t exceed 180? when deep frying. If the oil is too hot, the surface of the chicken would cook too fast and burn before the inside is done.”

Not hurrying the cooking is important. And for the best bite, eat it soon after frying. “Let the fried chicken rest for 5–10 minutes on paper towels to drain excess oil and firm up after cooking. And then eat it right away.”

Which oil?

The best oil for frying is a stable one with a high smoke point, like palm oil. Palm oil can withstand heat well over the 180? recommended for frying chicken to a nice golden brown colour.

The smoke point is the stage when the oil starts to smoke, so make sure the oil is never heated to this stage – when it starts to breakdown and oxidise, producing toxic elements and giving the cooked food an off taste. For this reason it's better to use a lot of oil when deep frying, as insufficient oil can lead to a higher risk of burning.

Cooking in plenty of oil ensures even, thorough cooking and a uniformly crisp exterior. Palm oil is cholesterol free and has antioxidants such as carotenoids, vitamin E, phytosterols and squalene, which add a nutritious bonus to your fried chicken.

Fraisse advises: “Keep an eye on the oil. If it starts to get burnt, change the oil or your fried food will get some undesirable flavours.”

You can tell the oil has gone past its usefulness by the colour. Fresh oil is golden; when the oil looks brown or dirty, it’s time to discard it. Oil used for batter-coated foods, especially meat and fish, breaks down faster and can be used just once or twice. That’s another reason why palm oil is a good choice for deep frying – it’s affordable and can be used many times over.

¦ The French Culinary School in Asia is at Menara IMC, 8th floor Annexed Block, 8 Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Phone [phone].

NEXT PAGE: Recipes for Super-Crispy Fried Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries, Chicken Maryland, and Taiwanese Style Popcorn Chicken 

Chicken Maryland: Fried chicken with corn fritters, fried plantain and milk gravy.

Chicken Maryland
Serves 4

Fried chicken
4 whole chicken legs, deboned
100ml buttermilk
100g butter
700ml palm cooking oil
50g flour seasoned with paprika, pepper and salt

Garnishing
8 streaky bacon
2 plantain bananas (pisang tanduk), peeled and sliced thickly
50g butter

Corn fritters
100g cooked sweet corn kernels
2 eggs, separated
Salt and pepper
1 tsp baking powder
50–75g breadcrumbs

Milk sauce
100ml chicken stock or 1 tsp chicken stock powder
100ml UHT cream or milk
½ tsp sugar, or to taste
1 tsp lemon juice, or more to taste
1 tsp chopped parsley

For the fried chicken

Soak chicken in the buttermilk for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Drain and reserve buttermilk.

Place the butter and oil in a suitable-sized pan or a wok for deep frying. Heat the oil until hot (about 160–180?).

While the oil is heating, place seasoned flour in a shallow dish. Dip each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour to coat it well, dip in the reserved buttermilk, and cover with another good coating of flour.

Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil without overcrowding and cook over medium heat (130–160?) until golden brown.

Remove to drain on paper towels or wire rack.

For corn fritters

Using a wire whisk, beat the egg whites to a stiff foam (hard peak stage). In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet corn, egg yolks and seasoning.

Add baking powder and 50g breadcrumbs. Fold in the egg whites and add more breadcrumbs to get a thick batter.

Heat up the oil from frying the chicken. When hot, scoop tablespoons of the corn batter into the oil. Deep fry over medium heat until golden. Remove to drain on paper towels or wire rack.

For the garnish

Fry the bacon until crispy. Pan-fry the plantain banana with butter until golden brown; sprinkle some sugar on the plantain as you fry if you like.

To prepare sauce

In a saucepan, combine the stock and cream and simmer over low heat until it is a thick sauce. Season to taste with sugar, lemon juice and parsley.

To serve

On each plate, place a fried chicken, corn fritters, bacon and banana slices. Squeeze some lemon juice over the chicken if you like and serve with the milk sauce.

Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken.

Taiwanese-Style Popcorn Chicken
Serves 4

2 whole chicken legs, deboned and cut into bite-size pieces

Marinade
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt

Coating
1 egg, beaten
50g cornflour

800ml palm cooking oil for deep frying
Thai basil leaves
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder for dusting

Chilli and bean sauce (combined)
60g chilli sauce
30g preserved soybean paste (tau cu)
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Sugar to taste

To marinate the chicken

Combine all the ingredients with the chicken and set aside in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

To fry the chicken

Place the beaten egg in a shallow dish and flour in another shallow dish. Heat the oil until hot (about 160–180?).

Toss the chicken pieces, a few at a time, in the egg to coat them well. Then toss in the flour to coat them well. Repeat for another layer of coating.

Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil without overcrowding and deep fry until cooked through. Remove to drain on paper towels or wire rack.

To finish

In the same oil, fry the Thai basil briefly just to crisp them and remove. Add to the fried chicken and sprinkle with the five-spice powder. Toss well before serving with the sauce.

NEXT PAGE: Super-Crispy Fried Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries 

Super crispy spicy fried chicken with sweet potato fries.

Super-Crispy Spicy Fried Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 4–6

4 whole chicken legs

Spice paste
15 dried red chillies, soaked and seeded
2 cloves garlic, peeled
50g shallots, peeled
15g turmeric, chopped
20g lemongrass, chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp salt

Coating mixture
2 eggs, beaten
All-purpose flour for coating

800ml palm cooking oil for deep frying

Sweet potato fries
500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges
Salt and pepper to taste

Debone the chicken and cut each into 3 pieces.

For the spice paste

Blend all the ingredients to a fine paste and use to marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

To fry the chicken

Place beaten eggs in a shallow dish and flour in another shallow dish. Heat the oil until hot (about 160–180?).

Dip each piece of chicken in the egg to coat it well. Then dip in the flour to coat it well. Repeat for a second layer of coating.

Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil without overcrowding and cook over medium heat (130-160°C) until golden brown and crisp. Remove to drain on paper towels or wire rack.

For the sweet potato fries

Reheat the oil remaining from frying chicken and deep fry the sweet potatoes in batches over medium heat (150?) until cooked. Remove from heat.

Turn up the heat (180?) and return the sweet potatoes – in batches – to the hot oil and cook until golden brown and crisp. Remove to drain on paper towels or wire rack.