Crispy Fried Chicken with Chilli Maple Dip

Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

I'd like to give my brother credit for this one. I had witnessed him making fried chicken on a couple of occasions and observed his method. After tasting the end product, I couldn't help myself but re-create it.

As I was told, the key to crispy chicken is to double-dip.

What do you mean by double-dip? Instead of dipping your chicken into egg, flour and then frying it, you dip it into the egg, the flour, back into the egg, and back into the flour... and fry. A double coat of batter will lead to crispier chicken!!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHALLOW AND DEEP-FRYING

Another thing to note – you are going to shallow fry the chicken strips rather than deep fry.

What's the difference between shallow and deep-frying?

Shallow frying: Frying food in oil but food can still touch the bottom of the pan and isn't fully doused in oil.

Deep frying: Frying food in oil, but the food floats and the oil is deep enough to cover the food.

DON'T BURN THE STRIPS

One mistake I made was heating the frying oil to a temperature that was way too high. I ended up putting a couple of chicken strips in and the exterior burned in seconds!!

When heating the oil, make sure you heat it on medium heat. You can test out the temperature of the oil by putting a bit of batter into the oil and checking to see how quickly it turns brown. It should be a gradual change in colour, rather than instant.

Each chicken strip should take around 10 minutes to cook.

---

INGREDIENTS FOR MARINADE

3 chicken breasts

1 cup full-fat milk

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

INGREDIENTS FOR COATING

3 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp paprika

2 tsp salt

FOR SAUCE (optional)

2-3 tbsp maple syrup

Chilli flakes (as many as you can handle)

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the marinade.

2. Cut the chicken into strips and place into the bowl of marinade. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate. Let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least an hour.

3. In another large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the coating. Put aside.

4. When you're ready to cook your chicken, heat up the oil on medium heat in a large pot – not too much oil as you're going to shallow fry rather than deep fry.

5. Take the chicken from the marinade and dip into the coating mix. Dip it back into the marinade and then into the coating again. Fry and repeat for the rest of the chicken. It takes about 10 minutes for the chicken to cook through. Be sure to flip the chicken strips over at 5 minutes.

6. Let the chicken strips rest on a plate with kitchen paper so the oil can drain.

7. For the sauce, mix together the maple syrup and chilli flakes in a bowl. You can pour this over the chicken or have it as a dip on the side.

8. Feel free to enjoy with a side of chips or steamed vegetables if you prefer!