Mom's Fried Chicken

Mom's Fried Chicken - Fried chicken with a garlic and onion kicker. The flavorful outer crust created by the mix of seasonings and flour provide a layer of crunch over the succulent and tender chicken meat on the inside. As is, this type of fried chicken is sure to impress your friends and family by showcasing your ability to inject another flavor to a food staple.

INGREDIENTS:

• Chicken pieces - Thighs, Drumsticks, Wings, Breast (any or all)
• 2-3 Eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups Flour
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 cup Breadcrumbs
• Salt & Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder

PROCEDURE:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. *Remember to lessen the salt seasoning as the garlic and onion powder already add a bit of saltiness to the dish
2. In another bowl, combine the beaten eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Turn on the stove and heat the oil. We will be deep-frying so it is important to have enough oil to cover the whole chicken piece.
4. Dip and massage the chicken into the bowl of the wet ingredients. The massage is said to tenderize the chicken meat and prepare it for cooking later.
5. Dredge the chicken pieces in the dry ingredients, making sure each chicken piece is evenly and thoroughly coated. Let rest for 5 minutes until the chicken is at room temperature.
6. When the oil is hot enough (dip a chopstick into the hot oil and see if bubbles quickly form), slowly and carefully place each chicken at a section of the cooking area. It is important not to overcrowd the pan with too many chicken pieces frying at the same time.
7. Cover the pan and let cook for about 10-15 mins. Inspect the chicken pieces for a golden brown color, this tells us they are ready.
8. Place the cooked chicken pieces on an elevated wire rack with a sided tray lined with paper towels at the bottom.
9. Consume immediately as the outside skin tends to lose its crispiness once aerated for a long time.

IMPORTANT:

Now, let’s go over some glazed fried chicken recipes. This is essentially fried chicken with a thick glaze on the outside to affix its flavor on the fried chicken and blend in harmoniously. Visually, it offers a more profound take on the usual fried chicken as it boasts of a caramelized, flavorful exterior while retaining the tender, moist, and juicy chicken on the inside. The idea of glazes consists of 3 parts:

1. The flavor (what you want your glaze to taste like)
2. The caramelizing agent – which is brown sugar or honey
3. The thickener or roux – roux is usually made with butter and flour but, a more neutral take would be to use an ordinary thickening mixture of room temp water and cornstarch.

Take note that we will be using the Southern fried chicken recipe found above, minus the cayenne and paprika, as our fried chicken base. Let’s go over some glaze recipes.