Fried chicken
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Fried chicken is chicken which is dipped in a breading mixture and then deep fried, pan fried or pressure fried. The breading seals in the juices but also absorbs the fat of the fryer, which is sometimes seen as unhealthy. The chicken itself may be chicken pieces on the bone with skin, or boneless and skinless pieces, usually breast meat, as in chicken fingers.
Chickens used for frying are usually young, tender birds.
History
Fried chicken has a dual origin in the rural American South. The Scots had a tradition of deep frying chicken in fat, unlike their English counterparts who baked or boiled chicken. Later, as African slaves were introduced to households as cooks, seasonings and spices were added that are absent in traditional Scottish cuisine, improving the flavor. Since slaves were often allowed to keep only chickens, frying chicken as a special occasion spread through the African American community. After slavery, poor rural southern blacks continued the tradition since chickens were often the only animals they could afford to raise. Since fried chicken could keep for several days, it travelled well, and also gained favor during segregation when blacks normally could not find places to eat and had to carry their own food. Southern whites also continued the tradition of frying chicken. While not limited like blacks socially, poor whites were no better off economically. Therefore, fried chicken continued to dominate as "Sunday dinner" or on other special occasions.
Variants
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- Chicken fingers - also known as chicken strips or chicken tenders, this is one of the most common forms of fried chicken, generally pieces of chicken breast (sometimes with rib meat) cut into long strips, breaded or battered dipped, and deep fried.
- Chicken nuggets
- Buffalo wings, or the boneless buffalo fingers
- Popcorn chicken - occasionally known as chicken bites or other similar terms, small morsels of boneless chicken, battered and fried, resulting in little nuggets that resemble popcorn.
- Chicken patties - breaded, fried patties of chicken meat used in sandwiches.
- Chicken Fries - chicken nuggets in the shape of french fries, popularized by the fast-food chains Burger King and KFC. These may also be referred to as chicken sticks.
- Chicken Chipees - chicken meat chopped and shaped into chips coated with potato crumbs. Popular in Australia
- Chicken Karaage
- Chicken Katsu
- Country Fried Chicken - chicken meat that has been coated with flour or breaded,fried and served topped with country cream gravy.
A variant of fried chicken known as prawn paste chicken or shrimp paste chicken ("xia jiang ji" "虾酱雞", or "har cheong kai" in Cantonese) can be found in Hongkong-style restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia. This variety is not dissimilar to the common deep-fried version, except that the breading mixture includes pureed shrimp and ginger juice, giving it a distinctive aroma and flavor. The origin of prawn paste chicken is unknown, but various sources name it as Macau or Shandong.
See also
- Church's Chicken
- Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits
- Bojangles'
- Roy Rogers Family Restaurants
- Chick-Fil-A
- Harold's Chicken Shack
- Chicken fried steak
- John T. Edge - Author of Fried Chicken: An American Story
- Austin Leslie - Known as the Godfather of Fried Chicken
- Crispy fried chicken - a dish from the Cantonese cuisine of China
- Kentucky Fried Chicken