Nashville hot chicken tenders

From America's deep south to your plate, these irresistibly crunchy and tender slabs of fried chicken have a few tricks to elevate them – custard powder and pickle juice are just two.

Nashville hot chicken tenders Credit: Kitti Gould

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 12 chicken tenders, or 4 chicken breasts cut into tenders
• 500 ml (2 cups) buttermilk
• 1 tbsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp sea salt
• vegetable oil, for deep frying
• buttered white bread, to serve
• bread and butter pickles, to serve

Dry dredge

• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 125 g (1 cup) corn flour
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 2 tsp MSG
• 2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp custard powder

Wet dredge

• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp hot sauce
• 2 tbsp pickle juice
• 1 tsp MSG

Spice oil

• 250 ml (1 cup) hot oil from frying the chicken
• 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp white pepper

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. Place the chicken, buttermilk, pepper and salt into a container, stir to combine well, then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or ideally overnight. Drain and reserve the buttermilk mixture.
2. For the dry dredge, place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
3. For wet dredge, place all the ingredients in a bowl with the reserved buttermilk mixture and whisk to combine. Add 1 tablespoon of the wet dredge to the dry dredge and whisk to combine.
4. Heat around 8 cm of vegetable oil in a deep saucepan to 170°C.
5. While the oil is heating, dip the chicken tenders into the dry dredge, then into the wet dredge, then finally back into the dry dredge, pushing on the flour mixture firmly. Cooking in batches if necessary, carefully place each chicken tender into the hot oil and fry for 6-8 minutes or until golden and crisp all over. Remove from the oil and place onto a wire rack over a baking tray to drain.
6. When the chicken has finished frying, place all the ingredients for the spice oil in a bowl and mix to combine. Generously spoon the spice oil over the chicken to soak it up for around a minute.
7. To serve, place a slice of buttered white bread onto each plate, top with the tenders and a slice of pickle.

 

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

High Engagement

Watch The Full Episode Here

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Watch The Full Episode Here

G