Ordering take-out fried chicken is one of my favorite treats. I enjoy cooking, which you probably guessed by the nature of my work, but the thick, crunchy barnacles of breading they achieve at Popeyes and KFC is a precious work of art. I won’t say you shouldn’t patronize these fine establishments anymore, but after you learn this trick, you won’t need to. You can get the same flaky, crisp, layered breading on your fried food—just add some of the marinade to your dry dredge.
As I perused the Instagram account of my favorite Australian cookbook author, Nagi Maehashi, I saw her dump some of the chicken’s buttermilk marinade into the flour and spice mixture on purpose. This is odd. Most of the time, professional chefs advise fervently to knock off excess moisture before breading, lest you clump up the dredge, even to the point of keeping separate utensils or designating your right hand to one and left hand to the other so wet and dry don’t unnecessarily interact.
This is because excess marinade will fall off the chicken or fish and tumble around in the flour, making chunks of breading with nothing inside. Yet, here she was, spooning in marinade and mixing it around in the flour. I soon understood; she was making the crispy flakes I love so much from take-out fried food.
Adding marinade makes flakes
When you add some of the marinade to your dry ingredients and pinch it all together, you’re basically making little moments of flaky, savory pastry. When you dredge the pork or shrimp through the mixture, these flakes will cling to the marinade along with the rest of the flour mixture.
The food gets added to the hot frying oil and those flakes create additional crunchy surface area. Plus, as the food cools, some of those crunchy flakes poke out this way and that; they’re not subject to the same moisture and humidity as the breading that’s right against the meat. You create crunchy bits that will keep their texture for longer. This is different from twice-frying, but creates an irresistible crisp texture in a different way.
How to make flaky fried breading at home
You can use any recipe for marinade and flour coating that you enjoy (here’s Nagi’s recipe for a fried chicken burger if you need a place to start), and this technique works for anything worth breading and frying. I did it with chicken and shrimp, but you could also use tofu, pork, or pieces of firm fish.
1. Marinate your protein
Build a flavorful marinade, and submerge your protein in it for however long you need to, usually anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
2. Pinch the dry mix
After you’ve tossed together your dry mixture and you’re close to frying, add a tablespoon or two of the marinade mixture to the dry. Use a fork to toss and mix it together for a few seconds, and then you’ll need to get your hands dirty. Pinch the marinade into the dry mixture; this is essential for creating flakes. If you just toss the marinade around with a fork you’ll end up with wet balls of dough and they won’t stick well to the protein, nor will it fry well. Keep going until the flakes are about the size of split lentils. The dredge will still be 60% to 75% powdery dry ingredients—you’re not looking to replace that, just add a bit of pizzazz.
3. Dredge the protein
Shake excess marinade off the protein (it’s still a good practice) and drop it into the flaky mixture. Cover the protein up with the dry clumps and press. Gently pick up the coated morsel—don’t shake it, but you can nudge excess flour off—and gently lay it on a wire rack to dry.
4. Fry away
Fry as you normally would for the particular food you’re cooking, usually around 350°F to 375°F, until golden and cooked through. Carefully scoop the freshly fried food from the oil (don’t snap off any of your beautiful flakes), and cool them on a wire rack. Serve alongside your favorite dipping sauce. Resist burning your mouth, but I do insist you enjoy your crunchy fried treasures as soon as possible.