Challenge tradition by serving Rob’s spicy chicken sando this Christmas

After #gardening-and-renovations, the #food channel is the water-cooler type Slack channel at Haunt Digital. A highlight of that channel this year has been Rob’s spicy chicken recipe, which is the result of reverse engineering some of Haunt’s favourite fried chicken recipes from around Wellington. In terms of Christmas dinner options, it's traditional because it's a bird, but radical in every other way.

    Written by:
    Tim Grubb

    The recipe

    Don't get too caught up in quantities...use your judgement, this isn't baking.

    Prepare the chicken the day before. Serves: six-ish.

    Chicken

    • Enough boneless chicken thighs for everyone, recipe is for around six
    • 1/2 cup of pickle brine (or enough to cover the chicken in a bag or bowl)
    • 1/2 cup of buttermilk (to substitute, you can make at home with milk and a dash of vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 20 mins)

    The dredge

    This is to coat your chicken in. You'll want to use a plate for this. Flour with generous amounts of salt and pepper added.

    (Enough to roll each piece of chicken in.)

    The dust Mix all together in a a shaker:

    • 2 tbsp brown sugar
    • 2 tbsp garlic powder
    • 2 tbsp onion powder
    • 3 tbsp paprika
    • 1 or 2 tbsp cayenne pepper, depending on desired heat
    • 2 tsp of salt
    • 2 tsp of pepper
    • OPTIONAL 1 tbsp of whatever chilli powder you like.

    To fry

    A large heavy pot with 1/3 to 1/4 its volume canola oil.

    The dip

    In a small pot combine:

    • 1 cup canola oil
    • 1/3rd of a block of butter
    • 5 tbsp of dust (You'll need a digital meat thermometer).

    To serve

    • Toasted burger buns.
    • Slices of cheese.
    • Pickles sliced
    • Crunchy Lettuce
    • Mayo (mixed with dust and a bit of lemon juice).

    Method

    Put chicken thighs and pickle brine in a ziplock and place in the fridge overnight.

    Then add buttermilk (adding it to the pickle brine is good as it thins out the buttermilk, which is often too thick and creates an overly thick skin later on) and leave in fridge for another overnight.

    For the dust, mix altogether in a shaker.

    For the dredge mix flour, salt and pepper on a large plate.

    Step one: deep frying

    Take chicken and let sit to room temperature.

    Put the large pot and canola oil to 160 degrees. Have your digital meat thermometre at the ready.

    If you aren't experienced in deep-frying safely, read this first.

    Dunk the buttermilked chicken in the dredge. Don't go crazy, just a basic coating. This is good to do in a bit of a production-line, if possible.

    Cook each thigh until it reads 76c internally.

    This can take a while. Obviously err on the side of caution with the chicken temp, but don't overcook the chicken or it won't be tender.

    Remove and transfer to the dip...

    Step two: the dip and dust

    Bring the dip up to simmer, in its small pot. Stir regularly as the dip will separate and burn on the bottom.

    Transfer the cooked chicken to the dip, and let it sit for around 30 seconds to a minute.

    Place on a draining rack and aggressively apply dust from the shaker.

    Fried, dipped and dusted

    Serve

    In your toasted buns, layer the mayo, lettuce, pickle, chicken and cheese... and viola...soak up the confused adoration of your relatives as you assume your rightful place as coolest cook in the kitchen.

    Merry Christmas! (If anyone does this let us know).