Michelle's Nashville Hot Chicken

 

The first time I tried out this recipe for Nashville Hot Chicken, mistakes were made. So on the front end, please DO NOT use all of the spicy sauce that represents the final step of the recipe. Spicy buttle will ensue.

I got this recipe from an old friend, Michelle, who lives in Nashville and who is the type of friend who knows everyone at every restaurant in town. As such, she knows all the secrets, and was kind enough to share them with me. This is the most authentic NHC you can get outside of Nashville itself!

I highly recommend making your own pickles and white bread to go along with your hot chicken. And get a wonderful pickled hot pepper on the side. Make some mac and cheese or simple braised greens like collard greens or kale. This is a wholesome, stick to your ribs kind of recipe, and not what one would consider health food. But you don't come to the blog for health food, now do you?

I made it one the stream using boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, but you can really use any cut of chicken you'd like. I'm including pictures of the Deadliest Batch, which included whole pieces of bone-in fried chicken. Make it however you like!

And as always, tune in to the stream every Wednesday evening, and post any comments or questions below!

Step 1: THE BRINE

For every whole chicken (cut into drumsticks, thighs, whole wings, and each breast cut in two) or about 5 lbs of chicken, brine for several hours or overnight in a mixture of:

• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 20 g - 40g salt (~1.5-2.5 Tablespoon coarse salt / 1-2 Tb fine salt - use less for overnight brine, more for shorter brine)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp sharp paprika (or half sweet half sharp)
• 1 tsp garlic powder (some mashed up garlic cloves works too)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or more depending on spice level desired

Step 2: THE DREDGE

For each whole chicken/~5 lbs of chicken:

• 260 grams / 2 cups flour
• 10 g salt (~2 tsp coarse salt / 1.5 tsp fine salt)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 Tb black pepper
• 1.5 Tb sharp paprika (or half sweet half sharp)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne

Whisk together all the dredge ingredients. Take each piece of chicken and dredge well, making sure they are well coated. Do not be afraid to press the chicken VERY HARD into the dredge - this helps to make extra crispy bits! Set the dredged chicken pieces on a wire rack to rest and keep them above any moisture or juices.

STEP 3: THE FRY

Fill a Dutch oven 1/3 of the way full with peanut oil, shortening, or lard. Or use a deep fryer. Heat to 400-425 F.

Fry the chicken in batches, placing into the oil skin side down. Do not move chicken for 2-3 minutes, then separate any pieces that are stuck together using tongs.

After the chicken has fried for 5-6 minutes total, flip the chicken over, checking to make sure it is not browning too quickly (adjust heat if needed). Fry for another 5-7 minutes or until white meat reads 150 F and dark meat reads 165 F on an instant-read thermometer.

Once chicken is fried, remove to a rack with paper towels underneath to absorb excess grease.

STEP 4: THE SPICE

From Michelle: "I rarely measure for hot chicken spice mix. I like to add other peppers and mix it up. Here is a basic guideline though (estimating these measurements so if it doesn’t taste quite right adjust. If you want to taste your spice mix before frying up chicken, toast up some bread, mix a small amount of the spice with hot oil and use the bread to gauge where you’re at). The quantity below is good for a medium to medium hot single (1 whole / 4-5 lb) batch of chicken or a less hot double batch (I think, I am not good at measuring this part). Make more spice mix if you want it spicier."

• 1/4 cup cayenne pepper
• 1 Tb black pepper
• 1/2 tsp fine salt (may want to add a bit more, depends how salty you make your chicken)
• 2 tsp Sharp paprika
• 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika (or both!)
• 1-2 tsp (or more) of whatever other pepper powder you like: more cayenne if you don’t have anything, Aleppo pepper is really good
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

STEP 5: THE FINALE

Ladle one cup or so of your frying oil into a bowl with your hot chicken spice and whisk to mix. Add enough fat so that the mixture is just thin enough to coat the chicken well without big spice clumps but not so thin that the spice is too dilute. 

Due to prior "incidents" I recommend drizzling a small amount of the spicy sauce over a piece of chicken and tasting. You can always add more spice, but you can't remove what you already glopped onto your chicken. 

Serve over a type of bread that will absorb the excess spice and oil (sliced basic white sandwich bread is traditional) and with garlicky tart pickles. Place the pieces of chicken directly on top of the bread slices, instead of having the bread on the side. 

Final tips form Michelle: "It’s important that as much excess fat and spice drip and get absorbed into the bread as possible. Don’t skip eating the spice soaked bread.

Wash hands very carefully before touching any junk or eye parts."

Et voila! Bon appetit!