I have been making a copycat of Long John Silvers Chicken for years. I make it a couple of times a year, so not tons of opportunity to perfect it as much as I wanted. Well, I decided to the other night, and boy, did I hit it. At least in OUR opinion I did! Part of the key to getting that crunch is letting it cool on a cooling rack, and not sitting on paper towels, although it won't make a ton of difference, one side just won't be as crispy.
When I sliced my chicken (I did it the short way because I used my fryer) I cut it in about
1/2 thick slices. After my first batch, I went thinner. You don't want to have to worry about if the chicken is done all the way through before your batter is to dark. So I recommend below to go for 1/4 inch thick pieces. These are absolutely addictive and PLEASE do this with some cod, or shrimp too!
If you normally bread when you fry something, I challenge you to batter! One thing I went easy on was salt, you can always salt it when it comes out of the fryer, but I like everyone to choose their own level of salt and there will be some in your seasoned salt. Make sure your garlic and onion are POWDERS not salts!
Here we go!
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp all purpose season salt (pick your favorite)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt (optional, you can also salt them after you take them out of the fryer)
1 cup water
3 large chicken breasts thawed and cut into1/4 inch strips. My fryer is small so I did it the short way instead of the long way. If you are using a large pot, do it the long way. Tomato. Tomahto.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl big enough to hold it and the chicken. After slicing the chicken add it to the batter and using a fork just get all the chicken covered.
Heat your oil to 350 degrees F. Drop about 4 pieces in at a time, don't let it stick to the bottom, and let fry until golden brown. You MAY want to check for doneness by pulling one piece out when you think they are done and cutting it in half to gauge the rest of your batches. Mine took 5-7 minutes per batch. As long as you don't cut your chicken to thick, they should be done as soon as the batter coating is a nice deep golden brown!
Place on to a paper towel lined cookie sheet with a cooling rack on top. That will allow all sides to crisp even more as it cools.
Dare I say you even get the the crispy bits of batter that are so generously placed in your container of chicken or fish? Which reminds me, do this with fish too! Get some cod fillets and go for it! Or shrimp, YES shrimp too!
Enjoy my friends!
