Simon Hopkinson's southern-style fried chicken thighs

By Birgitta

The best thing of all about fried chicken is its crusted coating. Traditionally it is hog fat that is the preferred frying medium. Paul McIlhenny, of the Tabasco-making family, once told me that he deep-fries his Thanksgiving turkey whole, in hog fat, and he is very proud of the result. If you try this at home, you will need an old well-scrubbed oil drum, a very large Primus stove, a spacious back yard, strong arms...

From Second Helpings of Roast Chicken by Simon Hopkinson

Ingredients

• 8 large chicken thighs, skinned
• seasoned flour (celery salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and white pepper)
• 2 small eggs, beaten
• 100 g butter
• 50 ml pure olive oil

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from guardian.co.uk

Preparation

Step 1

Roll the thighs in the flour and shake off any excess. Coat thoroughly with the egg and lay on a cooling rack for a minute or so. Dip again into the flour and once more into the beaten egg. Return to the rack and finally dip into the flour. Set aside on the rack until ready to cook. This seemingly excessive dipping and flouring does, I assure you, provide a good crust, however messy it sounds.

Using a shallow pan, melt together the butter and olive oil on a medium heat until the fat starts to fizzle somewhat - drop a small piece of bread into it, and if it sizzles nicely, the temperature should be about fine. Slide the chicken thighs into the fat and gently shallow-fry (the depth should be no more than 2-3cm) for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crusted all over. Remove from the pan and lay on a double fold of kitchen paper. Sprinkle with salt and serve without delay.

Note: You might like to strain the fat into a small bowl and keep in the fridge for further Southern-frying excursions.