I love fried chicken. Always have. And probably always will. As a kid, fried chicken in our home DIDN’T look anything LIKE Kentucky Fried Chicken or any of its ilk at all. Instead, the chicken was almost invariably heavily tanned, almost dark brown, without a floured coating, and the caramelized skin and meat and ketchup and rice was the childhood equivalent of food nirvana. I realize now, the childhood version almost certainly used emaciated organic free-range Olive-oil-gangly-like (as in Popeye’s Olive Oil, not the oil from olives) chickens and the resulting fried pieces were not terribly attractive at all. But they tasted wicked good. The fried skin, the tender meat, the salt, the fat, the ketchup (only ketchup in our home) was perfect with white rice and I could never get enough chicken. By the time I took my first trip to New York, at the tender age of 11, I was completely shocked at the plump, breaded or floured version that Sister cooked there, and despite a long fry, they were the “blondest” pieces of fried chicken I had every had. For an 11 year-old that was proof positive that everything American was bigger and blonder… Until I had my first traumatic fried chicken-linked experience…
In New York, at my Sister’s dinner table, with my first piece of blonde fried chicken, I asked for some ketchup and poured it onto my plate, beside the chicken and a huge pile of macaroni salad. My brother-in-law, feigned SHOCK and GAVE ME GRIEF LIKE YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE. He meant it in jest, but I distinctly recall being on the verge of tears. We laugh about it now, and I know he will read this post and I will have my REVENGE as thousands of you wonder what the big deal is and send him dagger looks over the net… The big deal is that blonde chicken is thought to be best eaten with gravy or nothing at all, definitely NOT KETCHUP. Hahaha. I kid you not. I had trouble swallowing my fried chicken the rest of that meal but I stood my ground, and continue to enjoy my fried chicken most with lots of ketchup, despite having had it with gravy in the U.S., with a thick chili paste in Indonesia, with pepper salt at Chinese restaurants, with sweet chili sauce or even sweet soy sauce concoctions in other places. Give me a a few pieces of fried chicken and a bottle of Heinz or Del Monte ketchup and I will be one happy camper.
I realized a few days ago that I had not yet done a post on fried chicken, and I had recently read several different articles on the ultimate fried chicken, so I decided to experiment. As usual, the recipes with the fewest ingredients are often the hardest to perfect. With just chicken, spices, fat and heat as the variables, it’s hard to screw it up, right? Wrong. What kind of pan should you use? Stainless, copper, cast iron or a deep fryer even? Cast Iron research suggests. What kinds of chickens? Free range, large farm raised, etc.? Larger farm raised plump specimens (but not too many of those here in Manila, so I used the best I could find). What kind of oil? Coconut, olive, canola, soybean, peanut? Canola or soybean were the top contenders, apparently. What and how much spices to use? Dried garlic and onion powders, flour, milk and eggs if you wanted the “coated” or crusted version with a nice crisp skin… Oh, and finally, what temperature should the oil be, and should you leave the pieces alone or keep flipping them over?
Here are the results of my first two attempts. I used a large cast iron frying pan as they would most likely have used in the American South, where “fried chicken” is generally believed to have reached its zenith. I then poured in about an inch or more of new soybean oil and heated it up to about 425F on a fry thermometer. I then took chicken pieces and seasoned them well with salt and pepper. Dunked them into a milk and egg bath (2 cups milk, 2 eggs, lightly beaten), then coated them with a flour, salt, pepper, powdered onion and powdered garlic mixture, tapping off the excess flour and immediately putting the chicken into the hot fat. I didn’t move the pieces around for 10 or 12 minutes and turned them over. I started with the skin side down (wrong), and burned the skin a bit. I think the oil was a bit hot, and frankly, as the oil got dirtier with succeeding batches and gunk was at the bottom, everything fried a whole lot nicer. The legs and thighs in these photos were from the first attempt. They don’t look too sexy but they tasted pretty darn good. I think the color was a bit tanned and now I am wondering if the oil or the temperature or the chickens were to blame, or I just overcooked them. For the second attempt the following day (yeah, yeah, I know, cholesterol dummy) I used boneless chicken breasts with skin on and they turned out BRILLIANTLY. Re-used the previous days soybean oil. I moved the pieces around more. Lowered the heat a bit. Not quite KFC, but they were really good. Crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and properly seasoned (read, you need lots of salt to make this good)! Load up on the ketchup, and ahhhh….YUM! (This post dedicated to Lee, who did the shirt designs and who asked me about fried chicken months back…)
60 Responses
Fried chicken is our (my husband and mine) favorite food! We specially love Popeye’s (not the one here in the Philippines though)! We couldnt get enough of it (the spicy one is more exciting). My husband also makes really good fried chicken. Will have him read this entry. I dont think he ever tried the egg and milk bath thing. Thanks for this one MM…Now, I’m craving for hot fried chicken. :(
Exactly what I like my fried chicken with….KETCHUP. And it has to be tomato ketchup and not any other variety like banana ketchup.
I also like to spice up my ketchup with worcestershire sauce sometimes.
My sons love fried chicken. But they prefer the chicken eaten at it is – No ketchup, no gravy. Thanks MM. Will try this version next time.
shocks! i’m almost to the point of drooling! too bad! i have to reduce my poultry intake to abate my “chicken skin!” yaiks!
Hahaha…I have my share of shocked people staring whenever I eat fried chicken outside of the home. In fact, people always stare. My sawsawan? Patis with calamansi and sili or none at all.
plenty of salt + ketchup = loads & loads of trouble to your heart MM. pero sarap pa rin isipin ang fried chicken isawsaw sa ketchup. sa mga puti ang ketchup ay para sa burger & fries lang pero para sa mga pinoy ketchup is good for anything fried (at least sa bahay namin).
I guess we all have our own versions of sawsawan, i usually go ketchup. or sometimes we have a “tori nambanzuki (japanese chicken) sauce we make from vinegar, soysauce, green onions etc.
I too have done alot of research on making the perfect chicken, my version starts with 375 degree oil, and pan fry or deepfry(my preferred method) each side for 8 mins 45 seconds to 9 mins and 15 secs, i find that at hotter and longer tends to crisp the skin too much and dry the chicken out.
I love fried chicken. So it’s always a treat when it’s served in our household with a bowl of del monte ketchup on the side. My husband loves ketchup and I came to love it even more, my other brand of ketchup would be jufran(in our home, my mom would make a really good gravy for fried chicken). For restaurant chicken, I like Max’s, of course second only to a home-cooked chix. There’s no way we would use pork fat at home just so it would taste like Max,but it would be a treat to indulge once in a while.
I love fried chicken, especially when i’m not the one who fried it, hehe. The chicken breasts look Terrific! My sawsawan is tomato ketchup/catsup with lea & perrins and hot sauce. Sarap to the bones! Plain rice, please.
Ahhhh, fried chicken— my ultimate comfort food. I am happiest when I have my breaded chicken with a great big bowl of sopas (that milky macaroni soup my Mom makes), and when nobody’s looking, I smother my rice with just enough soup to make it “wet” but not “soaked”. When sopas is not available, I’d settle for some macaroni salad on the side. Life’s simple pleasures, indeed!
I usually marinate the chicken pieces with chili powder, turmeric powder, crushed garlic, salt and pepper before frying. They look so good when fried (golden brown) because of the chili and turmeric. Quite spicy too!
Whats everybody’s choice piece? Nothing beats the wing. anyway, I heard the ultimate fried chicken is made with buttermilk (soak overnight). So I quite remember last Christmas when I was attempting to look for buttermilk in Manila for use in fried chicken. Anybody knows where I could easily find some?
Hi chad! You can buy powdered buttermilk in Chocolate Lovers in Cubao or Sweetcraft in Mandaluyong.
You can also make your own buttermilk. Just add 1 TBSP vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let stand for about 5 minutes before using. Hope this helps.
Best chicken for me is one cooked by my brother. He uses patis but doesn’t want to share if he marinades it or not but it tastes really good.
I love eating chicken but not cooking it. I have this weird and funny relationship with birds – can’t stand them – dead or alive! I can only do breast fillets (without the skin please. Hubby Kulas loves chicken so he cooks I eat.
I too love fried chcken but eat it as it is. I don’t use ketchup because I practice no added salt even if ketchup has lycopene.
But when it’s Max’s fried chicken, I have to eat it with Jufran. That’s my only exception to the rule.
i did ask you about cornmeal the other day, right? well, it was for a aouthern-style fried chicken recipe…i like my fried chicken with homemade gravy though…not much of a ketchup fan, but, enjoy it MM, to each his own…
fried chicken… my ultimate comfort food =) dipped in ketchup with a bit of hot sauce and worcestershire sauce/soy sauce. yummy!!!
I have a 10″ cast iron (pronounced “arn” lol) I do all my frying in. I don’t measure the oil temp but I can tell you 425 is too high. Try more like 350. I end up cooking my chicken for about 40 minutes and I only ever do thighs (the best part). Also you have to cover the pan. Sometimes I leave it off for the last few minutes to get it extra crispy.
My family loves fried chicken from KFC (because of cole slaw), and Popeye (because of redbeans and rice), each one of us eat with ketchup and rice. But…. when I have the time.. I will give in to my grown-up children’s request of Filipino styled Fried Chicken… and banana ketchup. I inherited my Nanay’s style of cooking it. She chopped a whole chicken into little pcs (bones and all), then marinate it in calamansi/patis mixture, then deep fry (no batter). Owww..my, 4 cups of white rice is hardly enough. Even my american husband loves it, same with my daughter’s classmates and friends. They’ll announce…my mom’s serving Filipino Fried Chicken..you haven’t taste anything like this before.
Like you, MM, I love fried chicken — always have, always will. I like mine marinated in dayap juice and patis. My dipping sauce: more freshly squeezed dayap juice and no other.
kids and hubby also loves fried chicken.. i usually make my own breading of flour, pepper, salt, italian seasoning(for the wonderful smell!), garlic powder and some curry powder.. i make sure to coat every crevice and shaking of the excess breading then dunking them in hot oil. we also love our chicken with either gravy or ketchup and we sometimes experiment with other dips. one of the most popular choices would be sour cream with some garlic powder or ketchup with mustard..hehehe!
My mom has a signature fried chicken recipe with just about the same ingredients you used. Her technique is to deep fry the chickens, oil has to be almost smoking hot and turned to low fire before putting in few pieces. She only turns the pieces once.Regulating the fire is one of her secrets. And her fried chicken stays juicy yet crisp for several hours. My nieces love it more than KFC, Hooters etc.
My family also uses patis and calamansi to marinate the chicken pieces in. No breading. We eat fried chicken with ketchup and pair it with a soup like sinigang or sopas. Now, my nephews and nieces prefer the breaded kind with gravy. I think you can’t go wrong with any fried chicken recipe, but I’ll have pinoy style fried chicken anytime–with sweet chili sauce, please!
I’ve never had a fried chicken I didn’t like. But I always enjoy it most with good old banana ketchup. Sarap!
Yumyum. Fried chicken IS the ultimate comfort food. It’s also good with a light buttermilk and flour coating. :)
Make mine Heinz please! With potato salad on the side… I don’t know if I’m the only one who does this but I learned this from my mom. We call it twice-cooked fried chicken, no bloody chicken centers with this recipe. We marinate chicken pieces in patis, pepper and kalamansi overnight or at least an hour. We drain the chicken and steam until half-cooked, then deep-fry the pieces until golden brown. The result is tender and tasty chicken with crisp skin (no breading but I guess you may also dip in batter if you want).
Hi MM…if you have the time to do one more experiment, do try this method…this is as close as you can get to having KFC fried chicken! For 2 fryers (cut into 6 to 8 pieces), dunk them in a milk bath (1 egg and 2 cups milk), then roll them until completely coated in flour coating (2 cups flour, 4 teaspoons salt, 2 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. Accent-if you don’t want to use Accent, increase salt). Then in PRESSURE COOKER pour oil about 6 cups and heat to 400 degrees F. Then drop the chicken pieces about 6 at a time. Lock the lid and when steam starts to come out, set the timer to 10 MINUTES. Release pressure when done and set chicken to drain on metal rack…It is soooo moist, and crisp on the outside! Let me know how yours turn out…
The latest chicken craze in the US is Korean-style fried chicken. A detailed review is on our asian food blog. Enjoy.
https://alltastesame.blogspot.com/2007/09/tale-of-two-cities-and-chickens.html
Ooohh, i love my fried chicken with extra crispy skin, and i make sure that there are a few “sawsawan” (ketchup, homemade grave and mang tomas) to choose from! A co-worker of mine from the island, once told me to marinate the chicken overnight in buttermilk-adding garlic powder, salt and pepper, chili powder and pretty much anything you want. Coat them with your flour mixture-salt and pepper, a dash of curry powder, chili powder and more garlic powder. I use cast iron pan and canola oil, i do separate batches, the breast tends to cook faster than the legs.
Betty q. your recipe sounds very interesting, i will try that one of this days, thanks.
Kulasa, I marinate the chicken with patis for about 15min. But before doing that, make sure to damp dry the chicken with paper towel then rubbing it thoroughly with patis and let it sit for 15min before frying. I love serving these with a mixture of Mafran and Worcestershire sauce. Wings are my favorite part of the chicken.
i love Maxs fried chicken in the Phil.but it should be Popeye here in the US.no need of ketchup or sawsawan.my youngest son loves fried chickent too,pero hindi na puedeng i-serve next day kasi it is not fresh anymore daw.Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!
Oh my, you guys are killing my diet!!!!!!!!! Fried chicken is just too damn good.
Hey MM, this might just be too anal, but do you have semi “diet type” “fried” chicken recipes? :)
I like it just the same as yours but, I would have banana Ketsup instead. You just solved my dinner menu for tonight.
thanks for dedicating this post to me!
I wore my “suki” shirt to the grocery last night and bought half a kilo of chicken skin to be made into something lethal. Fried into a chicharon-like something with loads of garlic maybe or killer adobo. Let me see who wins the battle between garlic and cholesterol. hehe.
Hi MM. We all have our bad chicken days. I hope one of these days you’ll feature ketchup/catsup/kecap or everything sawsawan in general.
By the way, my blog’s revived.
FWH
Hi MM. I love fried chicken whether blond or brown; with gravy or with ketchup. I find that using cake flour instead of all purpose flour gives me blonder results. I also feel that cooking the chicken in lard gives the tastiest results.
My sister-in-law has developed an allergy to mass produced chicken, so my mom tends to use organic chicken from the Salcedo Market for sunday dinner. The organic chicken tastes better but has skinny thighs and drumsticks. I personally prefer the hormone induced chickens, something about organic chickens give me visions of the scene in Gone with the Wind where the servant is running after a chicken with a cleaver.
Sorry about the trauma, even I still eat fried chicken with ketchup. Brine chicken pieces overnight, drain, soak in milk for an hour and dip in salt and peppered flour, no other spices. Shake excess off and fry in corn or canola oil although half lard is delicious. Don’t overcrowd pan and fry for 15-20 min at about 280F, 425F is too hot. Ketchup is definitely okay.Pressure cooker is KFC method but too dangerous for the uninitiated.
it’s okay to burn your chicken. :3 It happens. And yes, for me too, chicken is always best with ketchup.
In our home, we do it similar to a torikatsu. We marinade it in patis, pepper, and grated garlic. We then coat it with flour, some chilli powder/pepper, egg, and then soft pan breadcrumbs (the Kasugai brand). If we can, we use fillets. :3 And fry time is shorter and the hint is usually when the fillets have become golden brown. We play around with the fillets and sometimes use pork or fish, but the results are always the same.
Hi, MM. I gave birth a few weeks ago (c-section, 8.7 pounds kasi eh!) kaya I haven’t visited your blog in a while. Anyway, I always marinate the chicken in fresh milk or evaporated milk first (since buttermilk is so hard to find). It makes the chicken super tender. Then I set aside the milk and season the chicken with herbs and spices. Then I either mix the milk I used to marinated the chicken with plain flour or seasoned flour with either oatmeal, bread crumbs and beaten eggs (optional).
After frying, I then bake it in a covered dish to make it even more tender (leave the dish uncovered if you want it crispy). :-)
Thanks for assuring that the oil can be used again. I have always thrown it away, owrried about the rancid or burnt flavour.
My fried chicken is also good and simple.
I season the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, grated garlic, some lemon juice for a few hours. Dredge in Tapioca flour then milk/egg bath then dredge again in either bread crumbs or tapioca flour. Deep fry few pieces at a time in medium hot oil and yes, move the chiecken pieces around.
The tapioca flour gives it a real crunch
Hmm… to each his own, re: The Ketchup Issue.
Mine is a choice between tomato ketchup or gravy.
My fried chicken is a tad similar to sister’s. Except that I boil the chicken in that brine (in which I add different spices depending on my mood) for about 5-9mins. Then dunk in milk-egg wash, or just shake in the Zip-Locked Dry Rub of [enter-your-choice-of-flour-concoction-here] then deep-fry in vegetable oil for a few minutes or ’til golden.
This process (Brine Marinade) produces a very tender and juicy fried chicken. I used to opt for sister’s way, but since I just fry my chicken (as opposed to bake), some tend to get underdone (discovered when you get to the carcass..ack!). Pre-boiling, then, is my solution. Speeds up the fry time, too.
Who else has memories of the juicy fried chicken ads of yore, particularly the ones promoting Shake and Bake or some other processed breading? I have to admit many a dead chicken was fried in hopes of imitating that look of the chicken, that was perfectly brown on the outside, and ran with clear juice when it was cut. Never happened but then I didn’t know the tricks of the advertising trade in those days.
Anyhoo, I haven’t attempted to fry a bird in a long time. I do like the pinoy style that’s sort of carbonated to death, usually fried after being marinated in soy sauce so it’s dark and salty, with lots of rice, and a sawsawan of ketchup and sili (salty and spicy!). But there are days when I need the blonder, breadier version with gravy and biscuits. And Korean-style fried chicken is also wonderful! I think they par boil the chicken first, then fry with a lot of spices.
gravy if boneless or kfc – if cooked pinoy style jalapeno ketchup or heinz mixed with hot sauce
before my hubby went vegetarian, we were experimenting with our fried chicken for the longest time — adding this and that herb, marinating it in all types of citrus fruits and other flavor enhancing liquids — and then one day our brother-in-law cooked it the old-fashioned way: seasoned with salt and pepper. we loved it and kept asking what he put in it, which he found really weird. in our quest for the “perfect” fried chicken, we had almost forgotten this basic method which made us love fried chicken all these years.
MM, the way we cook our fried chicken is just like dizzy we season with just salt and pepper. the chicken must be fried frozen so that it steams inside. this method ensures that the meat doesnt dry out.
hi, can anyone share with me their patis-calamansi-whatever fried chicken marinade recipe? we never marinated ours (just seasoned it with salt and pepper) so i find it very interesting to see what the taste difference is with non-marinated chicken. thanks in advance.
how about the APPLE KETCHUP? anyone ever tried that yet? saw it in the shelves one time. . .
i love Tom Sawyers chix. too bad they’re gone. anyone knows how any resto that comes close?
apm,iwas laughing at your chicken and cleaver story.i remembered how my american co-worker screamed with horror when i told her how i used to kill (or is it dress?)chicken back home in the province.she held her breath when i said at one time the fowl flew out from the pot of boiling water.yon pala hindi pa patay nag hihingalo pa yata.it was an experience i could never forget up until now.my mom gave me a long lecture on kiling a chicken 101.thank God may dressed chicken na ngayon sa market namin in the province.
I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN! grew up with my mom’s version of marinating it in patis and calamansi. i eat this without any sawsawan but i like kfc with gravy and maxs with their ketchup =)
Thanks Ted. Will try this (at least will let the hubby to it). No kalamsi? I love eating this with ketchup (tomato lang nga) and Worcestershire as well.
Thanks to the people who wrote about the calamansi-patis marinade! I cooked boneless chicken breasts last night and the dish was a huge hit with all. I did experiment and dredged the last batch in flour before frying, and those turned out even better :)
My usual “Pinoy-style” fried chicken – parboil chicken pieces in a mixture of vinegar (I use Datu Puti), water, garlic, cracked peppercorns and salt. Drain and cool, then deep fry plain or dredge in flour before frying…yum!
Marketman I use the same ingredients for my fried chicken wings! I also add chicken salt to the flour-onion-garlic mixture. Yum :-)
Grabe, I love fried chicken with TOMATO Ketchup (Ketchup must be tomato ketchup like Del Monte, Hunt’s or Heinz) and not Banana ketchup.. Ultimate comfort food.. ;P Yum Yum..
My husband and I love fried chicken! I usually marinate it overnight in vinegar and calamansi. Then I dredge it with salt, pepper and flour when I’m about to fry. When I want a spicy fried chicken I use that McCormick hot & spicy marinade then include chili powder in the flour mixture. :)
i used to only eat fried chicken at home —caused by a rather traumatic bite into raw,bloody fastfood chicken flesh. i’ve since recovered,and can now sit down to chickenjoy/pan fried chicken at Pancake House, no sweat, but i’ll always be partial to home fried chicken–not battered, seasoned only by salt and pepper and served with steaming, hot rice and tomato ketchup on the side ! sarrraap!
My in-laws’ filipino-style fried chicken: marinated overnight in calamansi/patis/garlic, fried the next day (no breading pls!). Another style is to marinate chicken breasts in toyo and calamansi (fries to a dark, almost burnt hue). Sawsawan is vinegar with lots of garlic. Eaten with lots of steamed rice.
hi,i love your chicken recipe and i would like to try that..
but may i know what milk should i use?..evap or the regular milk in the box?..
thanks
i usually parboil the chicken with onion and salt.then roll it in flour,garlic powder and black pepper,then fry.the skin is so crispy but the inside is tender.yummy!!!
Does anyone have the recipe for pan fried chicken of Pancake House (Makati)? Thanks!