Crispy Fried Chicken

It’s no secret that I love really good crispy fried chicken. Are there people who don’t love crispy fried chicken? A lot of people think that making the crispiest fried chicken at home is complicated but it really isn’t. The trick to making the #crispiestchicken at home requires two Tipsy Pro Tips:

1. You must be organized by setting up your breading and frying stations ahead of time.
2. You must have the right ingredients. The biggest secret to making the crispiest fried chicken is using Argo® Corn Starch. This was a trick taught to me by a pretty famous Chef many years ago and I have made my fried chicken using Argo Corn Starch ever since. Argo® Corn Starch is the leading corn starch brand with over 100 years of quality and trust over multiple generations. Once you try this fried chicken you will understand why Argo has been around 100 years.

Over the years I have tasted many different varieties of fried chicken and I think that I have finally perfected my recipe for the crispiest fried chicken that combines my love of classic southern style and many of the Asian influenced fried chicken that I also crave. This recipe is a hybrid of two and I also will show you how to make my famous Sweet Soy Glaze using simple ingredients like:

• Soy Sauce
• Brown Sugar
• Argo® Corn Starch for thickening

The glaze is perfect for finishing off your fried chicken. The sweet saltiness of it compliments the light and airy texture of the chicken. You can also use this glaze on the side for a dipping sauce.

I stated earlier that in order to make this recipe successful you will need to be organized before you get started. I would suggest setting up a breading station and a frying station so that you are ready to get cooking. You will need some special equipment to make this recipe that you probably should have on hand if you cook regularly. Here is what you need:

Breading Station

• 2 Bowls that are large enough to fit one piece of chicken at a time. One bowl will be for wet ingredients, one bowl will be for dry ingredients.
• A plate with paper towels to dry off your chicken.
• A cookie sheet covered in foil

Frying Station

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Cookie sheet covered in several layers of paper towels and a cooling rack on top of it.

Once you have your two stations set up for prep and for cooking the rest is fairly easy. You will need to gather your ingredients. What I like about this recipe is that you use the Argo® Corn Starch in both recipes. One for making the crispiest #friedchicken and for making the Asian inspired glaze.

Here is what you will need to make this recipe:

Ingredients

• 8 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2 Cups of Flour
• 1 Cup of Argo® Corn Starch
• 1 T of Chili Powder
• 1 T of Garlic Salt
• 1 T of Onion Powder
• 1 T of Dried Dill
• 2 t of Dried Ginger
• 2 t of Dry Mustard
• 1 t of Black Pepper
• 1 t of Nutmeg
• 2 C of Greek Yogurt
• 1 T of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 C of Water
• About 4 to 6 C of Vegetable Oil for frying. You will need enough oil to fill your cast iron skillet up 3/4’s of the way.

For the Glaze

• 3/4 C of Soy Sauce
• 1/4 C of Brown Sugar
• 1 T of Argo® Corn Starch
• 4 T of Cold Water

The seasonings are key for this recipe as is the Argo® Corn Starch. The corn starch has been a long time secret to making the crispiest fried chicken. You want to flavor up that corn starch flour mixture with lots of flavor. This is the spice mix that I have perfected to my liking but you can feel free to adjust your seasonings to the flavors you prefer. I love to eat Korean Fried Chicken and I have created this spice mix that incorporate the flavors I love combined with the southern style of frying chicken. If you don’t personally love spice you can keep your recipe simple by omitting some or all of the spices I use and just use a basic salt and pepper mix. The only thing you can’t omit is the Argo® Corn Starch because that is the trick to making this recipe perfect.

The steps to making this Crispy Fried Chicken are easy:

Steps

1. Combine the flour, Argo® Corn Starch and all the seasonings in a bowl and set aside.
2. Add your yogurt, lemon juice and water to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Take your chicken thighs and pat them dry with some paper towels and then let them rest on a paper towel covered plate.
4. Set up your breading station with the flour/corn starch mixture, the yogurt and the foil covered cookie sheet.
5. Begin breading your thighs one at a time by completely submerging the chicken in the yogurt and getting a good coating on them.
6. Then add the chicken to the corn starch/flour mixture, make sure you are really pressing the chicken into the mixture and getting the coating in all the cracks and crevices. If you want, you can repeat the process on each piece of chicken, making for a super duper crispy crunch. For this recipe I only did one coating.
7. Set your chicken on the cookie sheet and repeat the process until all your chicken is done.

Set your chicken in the fridge to get that shattered look on top before frying.

Tipsy Tip

I like to put my cookie sheet of chicken in the fridge for about an hour after I coat it. I was taught that you want to give that corn starch and flour time to attach to the chicken and you want to see almost a shattered look to the coating on the chicken. The dryer the chicken is before frying, the better. It should look like this. Notice how the corn starch and flour mixture is kind of broken up. This makes the crispiest fried chicken.

While your chicken rests, you want to start heating your frying oil. Please be careful with this as the oil needs to be very hot and you can get burned. I add my oil to the skillet and I let it get very hot to the point where it is almost smoking. I test to make sure it is ready for frying by throwing a little piece of the chicken in there. If it floats and fries, you are ready to fry your chicken.

Steps For Frying

• Set your frying station up with your chicken, your cast iron skillet and your cookie sheet with paper towels and the cooling rack.

Tipsy Tip

I like to only fry two pieces of chicken at a time. The chicken is cold and your oil is hot. If you add too much chicken to the oil it cools the oil and you wont get such a crispy finish on your chicken. So you will have to fry this chicken in batches. I find that the chicken draining on the cookie sheet/rack on the stove stays pretty warm while you are frying all the chicken up. If you make a bigger batch you can heat your oven on a low temp and transfer your chicken to the oven to stay warm.

• Place two pieces of chicken at a time in your hot skillet. My thighs were nit very thick so they needed to fry for about 12 minutes. I CAREFULLY turned them over half way through cooking. You can use a meat thermometer to check the chicken to make sure it is cooked. Chicken needs to be at 165 degrees, I take the chicken out of the oil at about 160 degrees because the thighs continue to cook about 5 degrees while resting.
• Place your cooked chicken on the cooling rack and let drain. If you have your oil at the right temperature there shouldn’t be too much grease to drain.
• Repeat the process until all your chicken is fried.

Your chicken will be very hot and need some time to cool. While your chicken cools you can make your Asian Inspired Glaze.

For The Glaze

• In a small sauce pan add your soy sauce and brown sugar and whisk until it starts to boil, then turn down the heat to a slow simmer.
• In a small bowl add the Argo® Corn Starch and the water and whisk until smooth.
• Add the corn starch mixture to your soy sauce and brown sugar and whisk for about 2 minutes. The sauce should thicken up and you should have a delicious salty sweet glaze to drizzle over the chicken or to use as a dipping sauce.

As you can see this recipe for the Crispiest Fried Chicken is actually quite easy. You simply need to be organized in the beginning to make it. Once you gather all your equipment and ingredients and set up your stations, the rest is a breeze. This chicken is to die for. You will never taste such a crispy crust on chicken. The Argo® Corn Starch has been a secret ingredient for fried chicken experts for years and once you make this recipe you will see why. This is why Argo® makes the #crispiestchicken

I also love making the dipping sauce to serve on the side of the chicken. The Argo® Corn Starch has been my go-to ingredient for thickening up sauces for years. I use it all the time in my gravies and when I make my Chinese Take Out at home. The corn starch is what gives recipes like Orange Chicken and Chicken and Pea Pods that great texture that just coats your veggies and proteins. If you haven’t bought Argo® Corn Starch in awhile, I want to share that they have a great new look to their packaging. The container is now round and now square, its slightly bigger and they are also highlighting how Argo® Corn Starch is a gluten free food on the label! Check out the brand page for more recipes, at Argo® Corn Starch. You can also find them on Facebook @ArgoCornStarch. I think you will be surprised how many recipes use this great product.

I hope you make this recipe and love it as much as we do! As always, thanks for reading and happy eating!

Love, Tipsy

*Highlight this section for a more printer friendly version of this recipe.

Crispy Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 8 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2 Cups of Flour
• 1 Cup of Argo® Corn Starch
• 1 T of Chili Powder
• 1 T of Garlic Salt
• 1 T of Onion Powder
• 1 T of Dried Dill
• 2 t of Dried Ginger
• 2 t of Dry Mustard
• 1 t of Black Pepper
• 1 t of Nutmeg
• 2 C of Greek Yogurt
• 1 T of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 C of Water
• About 4 to 6 C of Vegetable Oil for frying. You will need enough oil to fill your cast iron skillet up 3/4’s of the way.

For the Glaze

• 3/4 C of Soy Sauce
• 1/4 C of Brown Sugar
• 1 T of Argo® Corn Starch
• 4 T of Cold Water

Steps

1. Combine the flour, Argo® Corn Starch and all the seasonings in a bowl and set aside.
2. Add your yogurt, lemon juice and water to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Take your chicken thighs and pat them dry with some paper towels and then let them rest on a paper towel covered plate.
4. Set up your breading station with the flour/corn starch mixture, the yogurt and the foil covered cookie sheet.
5. Begin breading your thighs one at a time by completely submerging the chicken in the yogurt and getting a good coating on them.
6. Then add the chicken to the corn starch/flour mixture, make sure you are really pressing the chicken into the mixture and getting the coating in all the cracks and crevices. If you want, you can repeat the process on each piece of chicken, making for a super duper crispy crunch. For this recipe I only did one coating.
7. Set your chicken on the cookie sheet and repeat the process until all your chicken is done.
8. Place two pieces of chicken at a time in your hot skillet. My thighs were nit very thick so they needed to fry for about 12 minutes. I CAREFULLY turned them over half way through cooking. You can use a meat thermometer to check the chicken to make sure it is cooked. Chicken needs to be at 165 degrees, I take the chicken out of the oil at about 160 degrees because the thighs continue to cook about 5 degrees while resting.
9. Place your cooked chicken on the cooling rack and let drain. If you have your oil at the right temperature there shouldn’t be too much grease to drain.
10. Repeat the process until all your chicken is fried.
11. In a small sauce pan add your soy sauce and brown sugar and whisk until it starts to boil, then turn down the heat to a slow simmer.
12. In a small bowl add the Argo® Corn Starch and the water and whisk until smooth.
13. Add the corn starch mixture to your soy sauce and brown sugar and whisk for about 2 minutes. The sauce should thicken up and you should have a delicious salty sweet glaze to drizzle over the chicken or to use as a dipping sauce.