While many people enjoy their chicken unbattered, a great many more love to dip their chicken in a batter of some sort. It does not matter if the chicken is in whole pieces, wings only or cut up breast slices for chicken strips or nuggets, chicken batter is popular around the world. There are almost as many recipes for chicken batter as there are chickens!
Different Types of Batter
Batter can be made with corn meal, wheat flour, rice flour, or graham flour. Ethnic chicken recipes often use different flours. Each region will have their own special blend of spices and herbs as well, giving the fried chicken a flavor that will be recognizable from that corner of the world.
Indian chicken may be coated with a batter made of graham flour, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, curds, and red chili powder. The batter is used on boiled chicken meat, and then fried until the surface is crisp. A wonderful Asian recipe uses a rice flour batter on marinated chicken. Marinate the pieces in soy sauce; five spice powder, sesame oil, garlic, and onion overnight. The next day, dip the chicken in a batter made of water, baking powder, salt and rice flour. The light colored batter is almost translucent.
There are some cooks who will use nothing but beer batter. The yeast in the beer makes a light batter with a tangy accent. Another way to impart a tang to your chicken is to soak it in buttermilk before dusting it lightly with seasoned flour. Let the chicken sit for a few minutes and the mixture will turn to batter right on the chicken.
There are many ways to get that crunch on your chicken. Crushed cornflakes, breadcrumbs, or crushed crackers are used by many home cooks. Others prefer wet batters that turn crisp in the hot oil. Japanese Panko breadcrumbs make a light, crispy surface. For those cooks who like a light batter, tempura is a good choice.
For diners who prefer a southern fried chicken recipe, there are many to be found in cookbooks or online. While some are a simple combination of flour, salt, and pepper mixed with milk, others include many fresh or dried herbs or spices.
Cooking Your Chicken
There is an ongoing debate on whether it is best to deep fry battered chicken, cook it in a cast iron skillet or use a pressure cooker. There are cooks who are devoted to their own preferences, each sure that their method is the very best. The deep-frying camp will try to convince you with the quick cooking time and lack of spatter. The cast iron camp will wax eloquent about even heating and the perfect crisp to the skin. The pressure cooker camp are not truly frying their chicken... they must brown it first, then cook it in the pressure cooker for about 15 minutes to get juicy chicken. You must be cautious with a pressure cooker... do not open it until all the pressure has been removed.
With all these batter choices, you will be busy for several years trying new recipes. Enjoy the flavors of battered chicken; there are so many different ones to try!
Different Types of Batter
Batter can be made with corn meal, wheat flour, rice flour, or graham flour. Ethnic chicken recipes often use different flours. Each region will have their own special blend of spices and herbs as well, giving the fried chicken a flavor that will be recognizable from that corner of the world.
Indian chicken may be coated with a batter made of graham flour, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, curds, and red chili powder. The batter is used on boiled chicken meat, and then fried until the surface is crisp. A wonderful Asian recipe uses a rice flour batter on marinated chicken. Marinate the pieces in soy sauce; five spice powder, sesame oil, garlic, and onion overnight. The next day, dip the chicken in a batter made of water, baking powder, salt and rice flour. The light colored batter is almost translucent.
There are some cooks who will use nothing but beer batter. The yeast in the beer makes a light batter with a tangy accent. Another way to impart a tang to your chicken is to soak it in buttermilk before dusting it lightly with seasoned flour. Let the chicken sit for a few minutes and the mixture will turn to batter right on the chicken.
There are many ways to get that crunch on your chicken. Crushed cornflakes, breadcrumbs, or crushed crackers are used by many home cooks. Others prefer wet batters that turn crisp in the hot oil. Japanese Panko breadcrumbs make a light, crispy surface. For those cooks who like a light batter, tempura is a good choice.
For diners who prefer a southern fried chicken recipe, there are many to be found in cookbooks or online. While some are a simple combination of flour, salt, and pepper mixed with milk, others include many fresh or dried herbs or spices.
Cooking Your Chicken
There is an ongoing debate on whether it is best to deep fry battered chicken, cook it in a cast iron skillet or use a pressure cooker. There are cooks who are devoted to their own preferences, each sure that their method is the very best. The deep-frying camp will try to convince you with the quick cooking time and lack of spatter. The cast iron camp will wax eloquent about even heating and the perfect crisp to the skin. The pressure cooker camp are not truly frying their chicken... they must brown it first, then cook it in the pressure cooker for about 15 minutes to get juicy chicken. You must be cautious with a pressure cooker... do not open it until all the pressure has been removed.
With all these batter choices, you will be busy for several years trying new recipes. Enjoy the flavors of battered chicken; there are so many different ones to try!
About the Author:
Everybody loves the taste of fried chicken and home cooked fried chicken is especially good. If you want to discover pan-fried chicken recipes, deep-fried chicken recipes or oven fried chicken recipes, in addition to finding some more brilliant chicken cookery tips, have a look at SouthernFriedChickenRecipe.com
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