Buttermilk Chicken

Name: Buttermilk Chicken
Total time: P1H
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients: chicken breasts; buttermilk; flour; white pepper; salt; canola oil

Submitted by SirVae

Crispy pan-fried buttermilk chicken breasts with a shattering golden crust. Bone-in, skinless, and fried low and slow for juicy meat every time.

YIELD

6 servings

PREP

20 min

COOK

40 min

READY

1 hrs

Buttermilk-soaked, flour-dredged, pan-fried chicken with a crust that crackles when you bite into it. That’s the whole pitch, and it’s enough.

This recipe keeps it stripped down to the essentials: bone-in chicken breasts, buttermilk, seasoned flour, and a skillet of hot canola oil.

The technique is what makes it special. Start hot to build the crust, drop the heat to cook it through, then crank it back up at the end to crisp everything to a golden shatter.

No fancy marinades, no bread crumbs, no deep fryer needed. Just patience and a good pair of tongs.

Kitchen Tips

Pat the chicken completely dry before dipping in buttermilk. Moisture under the coating causes it to slide off.
Shake off excess flour aggressively. Loose flour burns in the oil and turns the whole pan bitter.
Don’t crowd the skillet. Fry in batches if needed so the oil stays hot and the coating crisps instead of steams.
Turn pieces gently to preserve the crust. If any sides look pale, prop the chicken on its side in the oil for a minute to finish them off.

Ingredients

EACH CHICKEN BREAST

CUP BUTTERMILK

1 ½

CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

TEASPOON WHITE PEPPER

TEASPOON SALT

CANOLA OIL
for frying, to taste *

Directions

Wash chicken breasts remove skin and visible fat, leaving the bone. Pat dry with paper towel.

Pour buttermilk in shallow bowl. In second bowl, mix flour, pepper and salt.

Put skillet on high heat and add canola oil about ½ inch deep.

Dip each breast in the buttermilk, making sure it is completely coated. Dip in the bowl off flour, turning to thoroughly coat both sides. Shake each piece to remove loose flour.

Place chicken in the hot oil, flesh side down.

When skillet is full, turn heat down to medium and let chicken fry until just golden brown and crispy, then turn and let second side get golden. Be careful when turning not to break the buttermilk crust.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook 25 minutes.

Check to make sure heat is not too high and chicken does not brown to fast.

Remove lid and turn pieces over once more.

Turn heat up-but not too high-- and cook a few minutes longer until crust is crisped.

If crust on the sides of the breast is still soft and mushy, turn those pieces on their side in the oil for a minute or two so they can fry up crisp.