I thought tea brined and double fried hot chicken is a recipe that I want to try so I did. This recipe is from Food & Wine Magazine by Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger. This recipe is different and I never made a batter the way it was done for this recipe. I did a few things different not really to change the recipe but due to what I already had around the house. The three changes I did was using boneless chicken (because that is what I had) a different tea….(I brewed green tea with some honey for sweetness) The other change (and by accident was a FORKING GREAT IDEA….) I used saved chicken fat from a really great chicken stew I made…and used that for the fat that you add to the sauce…….All that developed chicken goodness came out in the sauce and it is truly FORKING BOMB AMAZING…I think the recipe is very good. No matter how you do it you will come out with something delicious.
Ingredients for 4 servings
8 cups sweet tea
1/2 cup kosher salt + more for seasoning
10 thyme sprigs
1 head garlic, halved crosswise + 3 cloves
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
4 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken thighs
3 Tablespoons gochujang (I recommend buying this from an Asian Market because you get something more flat tasting from the supermarket)
3 Tablespoons sorghum molasses
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup lard, or one stick unsalted butter (I used saved chicken fat from a delicious stew I made)
canola oil for frying
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup Wondra flour
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
about 1 cup seltzer (I added crushed ice to mine to make it extra cold…usually batter comes out better if the seltzer is extra cold)
Directions
In a large sauce pan bring 4 cups of sweet tea just to a boil. Add 1/2 cup kosher salt and stir till dissolved. Add thyme, halved garlic head, lemon slices and the remaining 4 cups of sweet tea. Let this cool on the counter and refrigerate it till well chilled.
Add the chicken to the brine. Cover and refrigerate 24-48 hours.
Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry. Let it warm up on the counter for 30 minutes.
Blend the 3 garlic cloves, gochujang, molasses, cayenne, and fat that you are using. Puree till smooth. Taste and decide if you need salt. Scrape mixture in a large bowl. (I preferred to paint it on as needed because I’m not eating at the chicken in one sitting…do what you need)
In a large sauce pan heat three inches of oil to 350 degrees f. Set up a cooling rack for the chicken. Spread one cup of flour in a pie pan. In another pie pan add 1/2 cup flour, the Wondra flour, corn starch and a big pinch of salt. Whisk so it’s mixed up and add the cold seltzer so you have batter.
Dredge 4 of the chicken pieces in the flour. Dip a piece of the chicken in the batter and let the excess drip off. Put in oil. Fry until the chicken is a light golden crisp (about 8 minutes) Transfer chicken to the cooling rack and repeat till done.
Re-fry the first four pieces that you fried and fry them again until the chicken registers 165 degrees F (around 8-10 minutes). Let them cool off on a cooling rack. When done toss the chicken in the large bowl with the gochujang sauce and serve right away.
It’s a very good recipe. Even if you make minor changes it will still come out FORKING Amazing!
A special THANKS!!!! to Food and Wine Magazine for this Forking awesome recipe from Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger so I could make what I did.
