Cooking Experiment: Fried Chicken (and Zucchinis)

[tuftears]

To my surprise, I apparently haven't blogged one of my fried chicken attempts yet. Well, this one was quite successful, so I may as well share the ancient secret Chinese recipe of yummy fried chicken.

Here's the recipe, tweaked a bit. I started with one package skinless, boneless chicken thighs. About 1.2 pounds. Contains 6 thighs.

I marinaded this overnight with:

- 1 teaspoon powdered garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning (non-salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon white port wine (I substituted rice vinegar)
- 2 eggs (I used eggbeater)

I made sure the pieces were well coated.

In the morning, I made up the batter:

- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup water

Once this was done, I mixed the chicken pieces in one at a time, making sure each was completely coated, then I left it to sit for an hour.

Finally, I took the chicken pieces out one at a time and plunked them onto a flour-covered plate, then sprinkled more flour on top. This is to ensure that the pieces of chicken are dry and ready to fry.

I heated up about half an inch of safflower oil in a wok, to 375 degrees Farenheit, and fried two chicken thighs at a time, flipping them over after a few minutes, then using a Thermapen instant-read thermometer to tell if they were at 170 degrees Farenheit on the inside or not. This is my new favorite kitchen toy, allowing me to easily determine meat temperature without having to cut the meat open. Awesomesauce!

After each piece was done, I put it onto a paper towel-covered wire rack for drying, then put some towels on top to soak up more oil. This is still not particularly healthy, but... It is delicious!

Here's what the chicken thighs looked like.



I served these with a saute of carrots and red bell pepper strips, and I made a tangerine sauce to go on top of the chicken pieces, using about half a cup of tangerine marmalade and a tablespoon of soy sauce and a dash of ginger, heated in the microwave for 3 minutes.



I had leftover batter so on my way back home, I picked up some zucchinis and battered them, then fried them up too:



Yum!

Comments

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Hah--we posted cooking tales within a few seconds of each other!

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Mine is sadly, not gluten free or even particularly healthy. };)

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

It could be made with one of the gf bread or pizza crust mixes instead of wheat flour and corn starch, and then it would be fine (if the spice mix is corn-starch free).

But zuchinni...ewwwww! But that's OK, I can have a different side-dish, and there will be more zuchinni for you.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Well, you could always batter a different veggie. Onion rings are popular, I hear. >_>

The original recipe calls for sweet rice flour, which might be gluten-free, I think?

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

That should be safe.

LOL -- here I am, modifying the recipe only to eliminate the modifications you made!