Spicy Fried Chicken Burger
Meet the Spicy Fried Chicken Burger of your dreams. Thick fillet of spicy crispy tender chicken, with spicy mayo sauce, bacon and cheese
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thigh fillets (500-600gm/18-21oz) (NOTE 1)
- 4 burger buns
- 4 rashes bacon
- 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- 4 burger cheese slices (NOTE 2)
- 6 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
- 2 tsp hot sauce (NOTE 3)
- Vegetable oil to fry (or canola) (NOTE 4)
For the buttermilk marinade
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (or any kind of paprika)
- 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp celery salt (or celery powder)
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (NOTE 3)
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- 2 cup buttermilk (NOTE 5)
Flour mixture
- 2 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour) (NOTE 6)
- ½ tsp smoked paprika or any kind of paprika)
- 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- For the buttermilk marinade - Place chicken in a large bowl, add in cayenne, paprika, celery, garlic, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Use hands or a wooden spoon to rub the spices into the chicken. Pour in the buttermilk on top of the chicken and gently stir. Make sure the buttermilk completely covers the chicken. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or even better, overnight.
- For the flour coating - In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic, baking powder, salt and pepper. Remove The chicken from the buttermilk marinade, shake off any excess buttermilk from the chicken and place the it on a plate. Leave the buttermilk mixture in its original bowl.
- Prepare a large rack with a plate underneath for the chicken. Working one fillet at a time, cover the chicken in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Cover the chicken into the buttermilk mixture and shake off any excess buttermilk. One more time, cover the chicken into the flour mixture, then shake off any excess flour. Place the chicken on the rack and repeat the same steps for all the chicken fillets. Leave the chicken to rest on the rack for 30 minutes at room temperature before frying.
- In a wok or saucepan, pour enough oil to deep fry the chicken, place over medium to high heat. Heat the oil to 180°C (356°F) or test the oil by placing a wooden object into the oil (chopstick, skewer or wooden spoon). The oil is ready for frying if it bubbles around the wooden object. Carefully lower two chicken fillets into the oil, use a wire strainer or heatproof spatula to stop the chicken from sinking to the bottom of the pan because it'll burn. Fry the chicken for a few minutes until it's lightly golden and carefully turn it over. Fry each fillet for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally for even cooking and colour. Place the chicken on a clean rack and quickly place a cheese slice on top so it'll slightly melt. Repeat these steps with the remaining chicken.
- In a frying pan, cook the bacon over medium to high heat for 5 minutes or until the fat has rendered.
- Toast the insides of the burger buns and butter them. Make the spicy sauce by mixing the hot sauce and mayonnaise together in a bowl. Build the burger starting from the base, add lettuce, chicken fillet with the cheese, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the spicy sauce, bacon and the burger lid.
Notes
(NOTE 1) Skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets are my preferred cut because it’s much juicier and tastier than chicken breast. Breast fillets will work too, but the chicken will be slightly drier. The total weight of the chicken should be between 500-600gm (18-21oz)
(NOTE 2) Cheese - Use a variety of cheese that melts easily. Cheese specifically made for burgers and Swiss cheese are great choices.
(NOTE 3) Hot sauce - Use your favourite hot sauce. It can be Frank's, tabasco or even sriracha, just as long as you enjoy the taste and heat level. My favourite is 'Shit the bed' hot sauce (not sponsored) It's an Australian hot sauce that has high-quality ingredients and is super delicious, I l love the heat level, it's insanely spicy!
(NOTE 4) Frying oil - I like to use vegetable or canola oil for deep frying as we need to use a lot of oil and these are affordable. Any neutral-tasting oil with a high smoke point (doesn't burn at high temperature) such as rice bran, sunflower or corn oil are great choices.
(NOTE 5) Buttermilk will tenderise the chicken and make it juicy. To make a buttermilk substitute, pour in a bowl a cup of milk into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes for the milk to thicken. This will make 1 cup of buttermilk substitute. Please note that you'll need 2 cups of buttermilk for this recipe.
(NOTE 6) Plain flour (all-purpose flour) does not contain any leavening agents.
Spicy mayonnaise sauce is just a simple mix of whole egg mayonnaise with spicy sauce.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Nutrition
Serving: 1burgerCalories: 884kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 38gFat: 58gSaturated Fat: 31gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 142mgSodium: 1941mgPotassium: 597mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1217IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 368mgIron: 4mg