Chicken-fried chicken with pickled cucumber and peanut soy
- Main
- Medium
- 4
- 60 minutes
PT1H
Scott Hallsworth's chicken-fried chicken recipe elevates this humble bird to a thing of beauty – perfect for a dinner party as you can make all the elements ahead of time. He confits the legs in chicken fat first for a meltingly tender texture, then deep-fries (again in delicious chicken fat) for perfectly crispy skin. If you can't get hold of chicken fat, duck fat will most certainly suffice.
Ingredients
Chicken-fried chicken
- 4 chicken legs , thigh and drumstick attached, skin on and bone in
- 4 handfuls of coriander , small
- 4 red chillies , Scott uses a large, medium-strength chilli
- 200g of sea salt
- 8 garlic cloves
- 160ml of peanut oil
- 2l chicken fat , or duck fat if you can't find it
Peanut soy
- 200g of unsalted peanut , roasted
- 250ml of kecap manis
- dried chillies , 1 or 2 depending on taste, finely chopped
Cucumber pickles
- 1 large cucumber
- 400ml of Japanese rice vinegar
- 260g of caster sugar
- 24g of salt
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 80°C
2
To begin, add the coriander, chillies, salt, garlic and peanut oil to a blender and blitz until combined. Rub the mixture all over the chicken legs and place in the fridge for 2 hours to lightly cure. After this time, wash off the mixture and dry thoroughly
- 160ml of peanut oil
- 4 handfuls of coriander , small
- 4 red chillies , Scott uses a large, medium-strength chilli
- 200g of sea salt
- 8 garlic cloves
3
To confit the chicken legs, place the legs in a deep pan (or two smaller pans) that are big enough to comfortably hold them. Add the legs and enough of the liquid chicken or duck fat to cover (saving the rest for deep-frying later)
- 4 chicken legs , thigh and drumstick attached, skin on and bone in
- 1l chicken fat , or duck fat if you can't find it
4
Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 3 1/2 hours
5
Meanwhile, prepare the pickled cucumbers. Make the amazu by warming the rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a pan to dissolve the sugar and salt – do not boil. Remove form the heat and allow to cool before using
- 24g of salt
- 400ml of Japanese rice vinegar
- 260g of caster sugar
6
Chop the cucumber and submerge in the amazu. Submerge in the pickle for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight
7
To make the peanut soy, simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until ready to serve
- dried chillies , 1 or 2 depending on taste, finely chopped
- 200g of unsalted peanut , roasted
- 250ml of kecap manis
8
When the chicken legs are cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the fat. At this stage, they can be stored submerged in the fat for 4–5 days before using. If this is the case, simply remove the legs from the fat and allow to come up to room temperature for approximately 30 minutes before frying
9
Preheat a deep pan or deep-fryer of chicken or duck fat to 160°C
- 1l chicken fat , or duck fat if you can't find it
10
Just before serving, deep-fry the confit chicken legs until the skin is nice and golden, for approximately 5 minutes
11
Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the pickled cucumbers and plenty of peanut soy
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Chicken-fried chicken with pickled cucumber and peanut soy
