Restaurant-Style Crispy Chicken
This is restaurant-style crispy chicken made with chicken tenderloins marinated in lemon-curdled milk and light-colored spices, then coated in flour and starch with a water, egg, and vinegar mixture to create a flaky, crispy crust. It is fried in oil at 160–170°C for about 5 minutes after marinating the chicken for 6 to 24 hours.
A crispy fried chicken dish focused on the seasoning and coating.
Like restaurant-style fried chicken.
Ingredients
- 1200 g Chicken tenderloins
- 1 liter Milk
- half a lemon Juice of half a lemon
- 3 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp White pepper
- 1 tsp Ginger
- 2 tsp Onion powder
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Curry powder
- 1 tsp Mahleb
- ½ tsp Cardamom
- 750 g Flour
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 liter Water
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp White vinegar
- as needed Oil for frying
- substitute for white vinegar Apple cider vinegar
- 1 glass of water Additional water for the milk
Instructions
- Place 1 liter of milk in a mixing bowl, add the juice of half a lemon, and leave the bowl aside for 10 minutes, until the milk curdles and resembles buttermilk.
- In a spice bowl, place 3 tsp salt, ½ tsp white pepper, 1 tsp ginger, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp curry powder, 1 tsp mahleb, and ½ tsp cardamom, then mix the spices well in the bowl.
- Add two-thirds of the prepared spice mixture to the bowl of curdled milk, then mix in the bowl until the spices dissolve completely. Reserve the remaining third for later use.
- Place 1200 g chicken tenderloins in the marinade bowl, then turn the chicken in the bowl until completely coated with the milk and spice mixture.
- Cover the chicken bowl, then place the bowl in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.
- Place 750 g flour in a wide bowl, then add 1 tbsp cornstarch. Add most of the remaining third of the spices to the flour bowl, then mix the ingredients well in the bowl.
- Place 1 liter water in another bowl, then add 1 egg, 1 tbsp white vinegar, and a small pinch of the remaining spices, then whisk the mixture well.
- Only at frying time, take 2 to 3 spoonfuls of the liquid chicken marinade and add them to the flour bowl, then stir lightly to form clumps in the flour.
- Place the frying oil in the pan over the heat and heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches approximately 160–170°C.
- Take a piece of chicken tenderloin from the marinade bowl, place it in the flour bowl, and coat it with flour without pressing, then shake the piece well.
- Transfer the chicken piece from the flour bowl to the bowl of water, egg, and vinegar, then lift it out and drain it well of the liquid.
- Return the chicken piece to the flour bowl, then coat it with flour and toss it in the flour bowl with turning motions until it develops a flaky shape, then shake it by one end.
- Gently place the chicken piece into the pan of hot oil. A second piece may be added only if there is room in the pan, so the flakes are not damaged.
- Fry the chicken pieces in the pan for about 5 minutes, until they float on the surface of the oil and become golden and crisp.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the pan after frying, then serve hot.