Popeye's Mild Fried Chicken (Copycat)

By cnash

My revised, reverse-engineered recipe for Popeyes' 'Bonafide' Mild Fried Chicken.

Ingredients

• 8 pieces fresh frying chicken
• 1 tablespoon fine salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon Accent seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dry buttermilk (SACO)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon Butter Buds (butter flavor seasoning)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground dill seed (not dill weed)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon bay leaf powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 6 beaten eggs
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sugar
• 1 teaspoon Accent seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• beef tallow shortening

Preparation

Step 1

1 RINSE chicken pieces and leave wet; PLACE chicken into a 9 x 13 baking dish. 2 MEASURE the SEASONING ingredients into a resealable plastic container (1 tablespoon fine salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon Accent seasoning, 1 teaspoon SACO buttermilk solids, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon ground mustard, 3/4 teaspoon Butter Buds, 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, 3/4 teaspoon ground dill seeds (not dill weed), 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon ground sage, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/8 teaspoon bay leaf powder, 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom); SEAL container with seasonings and shake well to blend; FUNNEL the seasoning mixture into an empty, clean salt shaker; SPRINKLE the SEASONING evenly and generously on every side of water-moistened chicken; RUB mixture well into chicken; ALLOW chicken to marinate in seasoning for 20 minutes at room temperature. 3 BEAT 6 eggs in a large bowl with 1 cup self-rising flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon white pepper; WHISK in 1/3 cup nonfat milk until well blended; INTO the same (empty) resealable container used to mix the seasonings in, add the remaining BATTER ingredients (1 1/4 teaspoons fine salt, 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sugar, 1 teaspoon Accent seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric); SEAL container and shake seasonings well until thoroughly combined; GRADUALLY beat the mixed seasonings into the BATTER mixture in bowl while whisking vigorously. 4 ADD 3 cups all-purpose flour into a medium bowl for the DREDGING. 5 PLACE a cooling rack over a baking sheet and set aside. 6 REMOVE chicken from the marinating dish using tongs; SHAKE the excess marinade; (1) DIP chicken into the BATTER until evenly coated; (2) COAT the chicken well in the DREDGING flour; PLACE chicken onto the rack over baking sheet. 7 REPEAT steps with remaining chicken pieces until all are battered and breaded (NOTE: IF THE FLOUR DREDGING BECOMES CLUMPY, SIFT IT THROUGH A SIEVE TO REMOVE CLUMPS BEFORE CONTINUING); ALLOW breaded chicken to rest at least 15 minutes to absorb the breading. 8 ADD the manufacturer's recommended amount of deep-frying fat for deep-frying (100% beef tallow shortening or 70% Crisco Shortening with 30% Crisco Butter-Flavor Shortening); PLACE deep-fryer basket into place in deep-fryer; PREHEAT fryer to 315°F (or preheat enough fat to immerse chicken completely in deep heavy stovetop pot between 315°F, using a standard deep-fryer thermometer to gauge). 9 CAREFULLY drop each piece breaded chicken one at a time, gently into the deep-fryer basket without crowding (if a standard size home fryer is used, add no more than 2-3 pieces at a time); (if stovetop frying, gently place breaded chicken pieces into hot oil using tongs, turning once halfway through frying duration). 10 DRAIN chicken on a wire rack over a paper towel-lined baking sheet; TRANSFER rack over a baking sheet and keep chicken warmed in a preheated 170°F oven until serving; SERVE and enjoy!