Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

marinade time 2

Course Main Course

Servings people

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, skin removed and trimmed
400 millilitres buttermilk
100 millilitres pickle juice
100 grams flour
100 grams corn flour
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper
rice bran oil, for deep frying

To Serve

4 brioche buns
coleslaw
sliced pickles
½ cup japanese mayonaise
1 tablespoon sriracha

Instructions

Combine the buttermilk and pickle juice in a ziploc bag. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat. Cover and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
To a large bowl, combine the flours, paprika and salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk mixture and let the excess mixture drip off. Dip the chicken into the flour mixture and press to coat, ensuring an even coating all over.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan to 180 °C. Working in batches, add the chicken to the oil and fry until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel while you cook the remaining chicken.
Combine the Japanese mayonnaise and sriracha in a small bowl.
To serve, spread the buns with the mayonnaise mixture. Add the chicken and then top with the coleslaw and pickles.

What makes a good fried chicken burger? To me it all starts with the crispy chicken patty. Tender, juicy chicken coated in a crispy flavored batter. Of course, the patty needs to be deep fried to get its crispiness. Take the delicate crispy patty and top this with some pickles, sauce and a soft bun and now you’re speaking my language.

This recipe starts with the use of a brine, which helps to tenderize the chicken. This eventually gives us our soft juicy inside once cooked. The brine also becomes the moisture that helps stick the crumb to the outside. With an easy to make process that it’s almost impossible to stuff up, and an incredible flavor profile, that’s why this is the ultimate chicken burger.

The brine

The process to making the chicken starts with the brining process. For our chicken brine we use a combination of buttermilk and pickle juice. The best way to get pickle juice is to reserve the juices when you’ve finished a jar of pickles. Draining a new jar of pickles also works, but that leaves you with a jar of pickles that might dry up. Otherwise, try making your own homemade pickles and make a bit of extra pickle juice.

Combine the buttermilk, pickle juice and chicken in a ziplock bag and leave it to marinade for at least 2 hours. You could also prepare this part a day in advance, allowing plenty of time for it to sit there.

Thighs are the best choice of meat for fried chicken. Thigh meat remains juicier and more tender and is more forgiving in the cooking process. Breast meat does also work (for those not fans of using thighs) but it is much easier to overcook leading to a dry boring chicken.

For those that like a bit of heat, you could also add in some hot sauce as part of the brining solution. Use 1-2 tablespoons if you want the heat.

The Fried Chicken Burger Crumb

After removing the chicken from the brine solution, the next part to the process is to add the chicken to a batter mixture.

There is plenty of different options out there that work well, including polenta and breadcrumbs, but we have chosen a combination of a batter that is 50% flour and 50% corn flour. To me this combination seems to regularly and consistently have the crunchiest results after being fried

Place the flours in a large mixing bowl and add some smoked paprika and salt and pepper. You could also add in some onion and/or garlic powder to increase the flavors. Toss the chicken through the batter, ensuring it’s evenly coated all over and then place on some baking paper while you prepare the rest of the chicken.

Tip: Food preparation gloves are a good suggestion here also for a quick cleanup at the end.

Frying the chicken

To fry the chicken, first half fill your saucepan with rice bran oil (or whatever oil you use to deep fry). Let the temperature heat to 180 °C before you then add the chicken in. If the oil is too cold, you won’t get the lovely crispy exterior. If it’s too hot your exterior will be burnt but the inside will be raw.

Cook the chicken in small batches until a nice exterior crispiness has formed, about 5 minutes. Adding too much chicken to the pan at a time will reduce the temperature of the oil, resulting in a crumbing that isn’t overly crispy.

Lastly, place the cooked chicken onto paper towel, to absorb any excess oil. The cooked chicken can be kept warm in the oven while you cook the remaining chicken.

Serving the Fried Chicken Burger

Although the chicken patty is the hero of this dish, it’s all the other trimmings that bring this burger together to make it the ultimate chicken burger. To assemble the burger requires a few extra things; buns, pickles, coleslaw and sauce.

Burger buns – I opt to use a store-bought brioche bun. Go with your favorite but choose something soft. Add a smear of butter to each half and give it a quick fry in a pan to warm and soft the middle.

Pickles – If you don’t already make your own pickles, you seriously need to start. They keep for a couple of months when made and taste way more exciting than anything store bought.

Coleslaw – You can buy this premade from the store, but really it isn’t that hard to grate a bit of carrot and finely shred some cabbage. Purple or green cabbage both work well here. Freshly prepared coleslaw will have a better crunch factor.

Sauce – Use a spicy mayonnaise (made with a mix of Japanese kewpie and sriracha) or a regular Japanese kewpie (for those that don’t like the heat). Try mixing some sauce through the coleslaw so it isn’t dry and then add extra sauce to the burger too.