Fried chicken is as American as Apple Pie. Its not as easy to master perfectly, however. After doing some pretty extensive research I stumbled upon two methods I thought had great qualities and then cherry picked the best parts from them to form my own recipe. The first method I was inspired by is Snoop Dogg’s Famous Fried Chicken. His recipe using a brine plus buttermilk. In addition to that, he crisps his up with lays potato chips. I absolutely love this secret ingredient on fried chicken. It adds depth of flavor and texture unlike any other. I personally found his recipe to leave the chicken in the brine a little too long plus I felt like I needed an extra layer of security with instructions on how to properly fry and chicken from raw correctly. It sounds easy enough, but if your an ameture cook like myself, frying a raw chicken can come with some set backs.
My partner bought me David Chang’s Momofuku cookbook for Christmas last year and in it is a Korean Style fried chicken recipe which is equally as delicious and less foul proof than Snoop Dogg’s. His version required only a brine without buttermilk and added a step to the cooking process which involved steaming the chicken before frying it. I tried this version and nailed it on the very first attempt. So many things to love about this version, however it wasn’t as crispy as Snoop’s and didn’t remind me of the Classic Souther version I’d grown up on. And so, I decided to try a version mixing the two methods plus adding my own twist with the most delicious Molasses Waffles to the mix. You’ll simply love how this turns out.
Here’s how I did it:
Molasses Waffles -
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 tbsp cornmeal
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled
Fried Chicken:
1 3 lb chicken, quartered
Brine -
4 cups luck warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 orange peel
1 bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
Flour dredge -
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup crushed lays chips
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
1 cup of buttermilk
Grapeseed Oil for frying
Start by creating a brine for the chicken the day before you intend to cook. Mix all the ingredients for the brine in a plastic bag until salt & sugar dissolve. Carefully place quartered chicken in the bag. Seal tightly then place in the fridge for 8 hours. Any longer than that and you’ll end up with a chicken that is entirely too salty. Once ready to cook, pull the chicken out of the brine and place in a steamer to cook over medium heat for 40 minutes. You want to make sure the lid is slightly ajar. Once cooked place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with wired rack then refrigerate again for at least 2 hours or preferably over night.
Once ready to eat chicken & waffles, pull your chicken out of the fridge to bring to room temperature about 30 minutes before ready to cook. Next, prepare your flour dredge mixture in one bowl and pour your buttermilk in a separate bowl and set aside. Now its time to assemble the waffles batter. Mix the all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Grab a larger mixing bowl and add buttermilk, eggs & molasses. Whisk until well combined. Slowly pour in waffles flour mixture then stir until all lumps dissolve. Drizzle over melted but cooled butter then stir to combine. Preheat your oven to 200º and your waffle maker. At this time you’ll also want to heat up your grapeseed oil for your fried chicken.
Now that you have all of your bits in place and ready to cook start by spraying a neutral oil to your waffle maker then pouring over about 3/4 cup of batter to each side. While waffles are cooking, place chicken pieces, one at a time, in the buttermilk then then flour dredge mixture making sure to coat well with crispy lays bits. This will ensure you have a crispy chicken skin in the end. Once oil has reached 375º slowly set in 2 pieces of chicken and cook for about 6-8 minutes or until golden browned on both sides. Place on wired baking sheet to cool slightly and drain excess oil. In addition, place cooked waffles in warmed oven and continue cooking off the rest of the batter. Once everything is finished cooking, plate and serve with warmed maple syrup. Hot sauce optional. Enjoy!
