Nashville-Style Hot Fried Chicken
- Makes
- 4 to 5 servings
- Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes, plus at least 3 hours for brining and resting
- From
- Rodney Frazer, adapted by Melissa Clark, NYT Cooking
This version of Nashville hot fried chicken, adapted from Peaches HotHouse in Brooklyn, will make your tongue sizzle and fill your eyes with tears from a combination of cayenne and ghost chile powders. (The latter is one of the hottest chiles in the world, reaching 1,000,000 on the Scoville heat scale.) Note that the recipe calls for both granulated and powdered onion and garlic. Try to use both. The powdered stuff is stronger in flavor while the granulated has a little more texture to it. (However if you can’t find both, either kind will work throughout the recipe.) The traditional way to serve this is on top of a piece or two of soft white bread, which helps mitigate the heat. A cold beer wouldn’t hurt, either. —Melissa Clark
Ingredients
Green amounts are scaled. Anything else is as written, so adjust it yourself.
Brine
Very hot spice
Dredge
Method
Amounts and times written inside the steps are for the original quantity.
- Prepare the brine: In a large bowl, whisk salt and spices in 2 cups boiling water until salt dissolves. Whisk in 6 cups ice water. The brine should be cold; if not, chill until it is. Add chicken pieces to the cold brine and chill for .
- In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the very hot spice mixture. In another bowl, prepare the dredge: combine the flour, granulated garlic and onion, salt and pepper.
- Remove chicken pieces from brine, pat dry with paper towels and season with a light dusting of hot spice mixture. Dust pieces with dredge mixture. Reserve both the remaining hot spice mixture and the dredge. Let chicken rest in fridge, uncovered, for at least an hour for the coating to adhere.
- Pour 2 inches of oil into a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a cover. Heat oil to 325 degrees on a deep-fat thermometer. In a shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and 1 ½ cups ice water to make egg wash (see Tips). Dip chicken in egg wash, then coat with more dredge. Shake pieces lightly so any excess dredge falls off.
- Carefully place chicken in hot oil, about 3 to 4 pieces per batch. Cover pot with lid and let fry for about , until golden brown on one side. Remove lid and flip pieces. Continue frying, uncovered, and turning in increments, until the chicken is evenly golden brown all over and cooked through, about total. Using tongs, transfer cooked chicken to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to catch the oil drips. Dust with very hot spice as it comes out of the fryer.
Tips
For an especially light and crispy crust, substitute 2 cups of all-purpose flour and ½ cup potato starch.
Using an egg wash during the second dredge tends to yield a more durable, crispier crust, but you can skip it if you like.