Nashville hot chicken

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This recipe is part of a series of ideas for using this lacto-fermented chilli sauce. A speciality of - you’ve guessed it - Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville hot chicken is a dish of crunchy, fried chicken doused in a spicy sauce. Vary the heat level according to your preference, but we think the dish should live up to its name! We’ve served the chicken on a hamburger bun, but traditionally, it would be served on plain white sliced bread. A potato salad would be particularly lovely on the side.

First published in 2023

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Wet mixture

  • 200ml of buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 50ml of fermented chilli sauce, see above

Chicken

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, bashed out to an even thickness
  • vegetable oil, for frying

Spicy paste

  • 25g of butter
  • 2 tbsp of cayenne pepper, or use 3 to make it spicier
  • 1 tbsp of brown sugar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp of fermented chilli sauce, or more to taste

To serve

  • 6 burger buns
  • dill pickle slice to taste

Method

1

Prepare a metal rack over a baking tray, for holding the chicken

2

Combine all the ingredients for the dredge and set aside

3

Combine all ingredients for the wet mixture and set aside

  • 200ml of buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 50ml of fermented chilli sauce, see above
4

Dip the chicken in the flour, then the wet mixture, then the flour, then place onto the rack

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, bashed out to an even thickness
5

Heat up the oil for deep-frying to a temperature of 170ºC (giving the chicken this time to rest will help the coating stick better)

  • vegetable oil, for frying
6

Fry the chicken for 6 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through - an instant read thermometer should register 70°C when probed into the thickest part of the meat (the temperature will continue to rise as the chicken rests)

7

Allow the oil to cool a little - a few minutes will be fine

8

Pour 50ml of the still hot oil over the butter cubes, then add the remaining spicy paste ingredients

  • 25g of butter
  • 2 tbsp of cayenne pepper, or use 3 to make it spicier
  • 1 tbsp of brown sugar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp of fermented chilli sauce, or more to taste
9

Brush the spicy paste over the chicken and serve with the pickles in buns

  • 6 burger buns
  • dill pickle slice

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