Flash-Fried Finger-Lickin' Chicken

Name: Flash-Fried Finger-Lickin' Chicken
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 3 cups low-fat, low sodium chicken broth; Salt; 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs; 2 quarts grapeseed oil; 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour; 1 tablespoon sweet paprika; 1 1/2 teaspoon celery salt; 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 cups low-fat buttermilk

By Rocco DiSpirito

December 19, 2010

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Flash-Fried Finger-Lickin' ChickenCookbook cover image courtesy of Random House

Flash frying is a high-heat deep frying technique used to rapidly fry small shrimp to avoid overcooking them before the crust browns. Flash flying requires an oil temperature of at least 400°F—which means you have to use an oil with a high smoke point like grapeseed oil. By poaching the chicken first and then flash frying it, I was able to eliminate 20 grams of fat and at least 250 calories from traditional fried chicken. Because the chicken is already cooked, it only has to spend enough time in the hot oil to brown the crust, which means it absorbs less oil.

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