Boneless Buffalo Chicken

By drmbo1989

To capture the crunch and fire of this habit-forming bar snack, we wrestled with tough chicken, soggy crusts, and scorching burn. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

•A fried chicken-style marinade of buttermilk and salt kept the delicate white meat juicy and moist, and helped season it as well.
•We turned to a technique we’ve used in the past for extra-crunchy fried chicken: dipping the chicken in beaten egg whites, then dredging it in a mixture of cornstarch, flour, and baking soda (for browning) that turns moist and lumpy with the addition of a little hot sauce.
•We started with the standard sauce of equal parts melted butter and hot sauce, but with the fried coating the dish was greasy. Cutting the butter way back solved that problem.
•Cutting back on the butter made the sauce slide off the nuggets in a scorching puddle. To solve this, we turned to cornstarch—just a few teaspoons yielded a thick, glazy sauce that coated the nuggets without undoing their crunch.
•We also cut the hot sauce with some water to reduce the burn.
•Unless you’ve got a high tolerance for heat, be sure to use a relatively mild hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup hot sauce (see note)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups vegetable oil

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

1. MARINATE Combine chicken, buttermilk, and salt in large zipper-lock bag and refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Combine hot sauce, water, sugar, butter, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch in saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

2. COAT Whisk egg whites in shallow dish until foamy. Stir flour, baking soda, remaining cornstarch, and 6 tablespoons hot sauce mixture in second shallow dish until mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Toss half of chicken with egg whites until well coated, then dredge chicken in cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer coated chicken to plate and repeat with remaining chicken.

3. FRY Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until oil registers 350 degrees. Fry half of chicken until golden brown, about 4 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking. Transfer chicken to paper towel-lined plate. Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken.

4. TOSS Warm remaining hot sauce mixture over medium-low heat until simmering. Combine chicken and hot sauce mixture in large bowl and toss to coat. Serve.

MAKE AHEAD: Freeze with Ease
This dish freezes beautifully. In step 3, fry each batch of chicken until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain and cool chicken on paper towel-lined plate, then transfer to freezer. Once chicken is completely frozen (this should take about 2 hours), transfer it to zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. (Freeze the sauce separately in an airtight container for up to 1 month.) When ready to serve, heat 4 cups oil to 350 degrees and fry the chicken in 2 batches until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking. Reheat sauce in microwave or in saucepan over medium-low heat until warm. Toss chicken with sauce as directed. Serve.