Cold Fried Chicken

Name: Cold Fried Chicken
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups buttermilk; 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in, skin on; 1 1/2 cups flour; 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 1/2 tablespoons ground black pepper; Enough shortening or peanut oil to come 6 inches up a high-sided pot

Recipe from Gabrielle Hamilton

Adapted by Tamar Adler

Total Time: 1 hour, plus soaking time
Rating: 4(226)
Comments: Read comments

This is the first cold fried chicken I ever tasted, at Prune, in the East Village, where the chef, Gabrielle Hamilton, makes everything as slanted and far-fetched as nature itself. I don’t know why she served it cold, not hot; I only know that I loved it, and do still. She served it with butter lettuce and buttermilk dressing, and it is very good that way. It is also very good with hot sauce. —Tamar Adler

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

For Soaking

2cups buttermilk
1½tablespoons kosher salt
½teaspoon cayenne pepper
½teaspoon ground black pepper
3pounds chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

For Dredging

1½cups flour
2tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½tablespoons ground black pepper
Enough shortening or peanut oil to come 6 inches up a high-sided pot

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
One day before you’re frying, mix all the soaking ingredients in a big container or two. Put the thighs in to soak, and refrigerate overnight.
Step 2
The following day, mix the dredging ingredients in a big deep bowl or high-sided roasting pan. Remove the chicken from the soak, piece by piece, allowing excess buttermilk to drip off away from the dredge. Drop each piece into flour mixture, a few at a time, leaving space between each piece. Shake, and toss to coat each piece evenly and thoroughly.
Step 3
Lay the dredged chicken on a rack set over a cookie sheet to allow the coating to dry and cling, leaving space between the pieces.
Step 4
Heat oil to 325 degrees, testing with a thermometer, or by dropping a few specks of flour in, and begin to fry when the specks sizzle calmly. Fry in batches, until just shy of golden. Continue until all have been fried, lowering the heat as needed to keep the temperature constant, and straining out excess flour to keep the oil clean. Let thighs rest on a rack over a cookie sheet or dish towel. Skim all the excess flour out of the oil, or carefully strain it into a new pot and raise heat to 350. Fry the thighs again, in batches, to (in Hamilton’s words) “finish to gorgeous deep golden brown.”
Step 5
Drain on a rack. Leave at room temperature for a same-day picnic, or refrigerate overnight if you’re eating the following day. Bring buttermilk dressing! Bring hot sauce! Bring butter lettuce! Bring rosé!

Ratings

4 out of 5

226 user ratings

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Comments

Wildbill19987 years ago

Perhaps you don't eat fried foods any longer but please don't speak for everyone. I still eat and love fried foods and keep a deep fryer setup on my counter. I make french fries, Thai spring rolls, dumplings, and yes fried chicken often. My cholesterol levels are fine and so too is my blood pressure. My good friend of many years who never ate fried food and worked out everyday just had a stoke and died. So?

Mike Michaud7 years ago

Made this last night for group of friends. They loved it. Lessons learned from cooking fried chicken first time: 1) have the right kind of thermometer, 2) don't run out of flour (corn meal can work in a pinch), 3) double dredge of chicken works better (soak as directed, dredge in flower, soak in a new bowl of buttermilk, dredge again), 4) if you are an idiot like me and can't keep temp of oil just right to cook chicken through, finish it in the oven, 5) don't drink too much while cooking.

Lynn7 years ago

This is indeed an old fashioned recipe, except my mother fried chicken in lard... she lived healthy to 92. So, if you are going to fry chicken you might just as well cook the best tasting chicken and only do it a couple of times a year. I put 2 T of cornstarch with the dredging flour; it makes the skin/exterior more crispy. Yogurt substituted for buttermilk is good, so is a plain water brine.

Rosie O2 years ago

I should've read the notes first. I agree, TOO much salt in the dredging flour! Fried it first then baked it in 225 oven to finish it off. Glad I tested recipe before serving it at a party.

Alice3 years ago

I just added 1 Tb each of salt and turmeric to the flour dredge, along with 1 Tb of fine-ground gochugaru and 2 Tb of cornstarch. Fried in home-rendered lard, it was perfectly crunchy and seasoned, even cold. Great for a picnic, as predicted! One note: there were a few pieces of chicken I wasn't able to fit into the buttermilk bath overnight, and I just dipped them before frying the next day. There wasn't a huge difference between those and the pieces that got the long soak.

Brooke4 years ago

Legitimately delicious both hot and cold. Its extra special cold though. I doubled the recipe and added a few of my own tweaks - white pepper in both the marinade and the dredge and pickle brine in the marinade. I thought the turmeric was different, unexpected and super delicious. I ended up only frying once since the thighs were so big and i had so many I didn't want to be frying for 2 hrs. so I can only imagine how much better that crust will be next time I double fry it!! Brava Gabrielle!

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