shinajaran: Fussy Fried Chicken with Complicated Chips

I finished my class at 9pm and took the tube from King's Cross. By the time i reach my pad, It was late into the night about 10pm. I only had a miserable and cold dinner that consist of a danish cinnamon roll and a coffee at 6pm. Hunger pang was calling and I am resisting the temptation to go to KFC. KFC close at 11pm here..... I am supposed to do some work, but unconscious surfing on the Internet brought me to this video.

I went to the bed hungry, and dream of fried chicken........... The next few days, I am on auto pilot mode to get ready to fry chicken... lol.

The recipe was loosely referred to the video posted. I only have thyme, oregano and sage in the cupboard. Just have make do with it. The recipe calls for buttermilk, which I can't find any at the local store. Probably it is not popular across the trans-atlantic sea. I used the substitute that consist of 1cup milk + 1 table spoon of vinegar.

Then, I deboned 3 pieces of chicken thighs, but gave up on the 4th. The feeling of cutting meat with a dull knife really make my hair stand and sending chills down the spine.

Fried chicken to me is not difficult, done that many times prior to my setup, but to fry it moist in the inside and crispy on the outside it requires perfect execution and discipline. If not, the end results are not consistent.

The chicken pieces are marinade overnight, sous vide with my setup at 64.5 degC for 3 hours. Chilled with cold water and waiting to be fried.

Mix 5 table spoon of flour with 1/2 teas spoon of each spices available on hand, and 1/2 teas spoon of salt. I added another 1/2 teaspoon of chilli power for the extra "shiok" -ness.

Mix the flour and spices until even. DO NOT ADD WATER.

The sous vide -ed chicken pieces are ready to be dredged with the spiced-flour.

After the heavy powdering, set aside. It is still not pretty yet... but behold........

Heat up oil. The oil must remain consistent at 175degC to fry the chicken. Anticipating some temperature drop with my heavily powdered en sous vide chicken pieces with the frying, the oil is heated to 188.3 degC.

Drop in the chicken pieces and make sure the oil covers them thoroughly. Fry for about 5 minutes or till the preferred golden brown. Since the chicken cooked en sous vide, it is not recommended to cook the chicken in the hot oil for too long. If the internal temperature is continuously climbing above 65degC, the chicken will be dry and "stringy" linearly to the temperature. How to describe stringy? It is the fibers of chicken that will stuck in between the teeth when eating. sous vide chicken are so tender, there is no effort needed to chew. Flash frying the sous vide chicken pieces is to give it a nice aroma and also stunning colour that no human being can resist.

I have to admit it, I stole some of the chicken before it is ready to be serve.... hehehe

Fried chicken is never complete without fried chicken drumsticks... Eat with your hands! Sink your teeth into the oh-so-tender drumstick! Hear the crunchy sound! Smell the aroma of the spices! Taste the texture. I can't go on further nor take a video of me eating it. It will be so inhumane to tempt others.

Extra flour laying somewhere? no worries, mix with binding agent of choice (water/milk/beer) and FRY!!! Extra serving of crackling.

I still have some 2/3 completed complicated chips from last week, well hidden inside the freezer. Time to dig it out! no need to thaw, just fry directly in oil at 190degC.