Sweet Chick, the cult US chicken and waffle restaurant from John Seymour comes with a pretty impressive pedigree. Backed by rapper Nas, the restaurant's New York outlets have been delivering the goods on that sweet and savoury combination for a good while now. The chain's latest Fitzrovia outlet looks set to take London by storm, too. Want to bring a taste of that fried chicken home? This recipe is the way forward. Every bite of this crispy chicken is juicy and flavourful. Brining the chicken overnight gives the spices a chance to get deep into the meat. Enjoy.
Make Sweet Chick’s ultimate fried chicken
Fitzrovia newcomer Sweet Chick serves some pretty bomb fried chicken. We asked founder John Seymour to give us the joint’s secret recipe
Make Sweet Chick’s ultimate fried chicken
Serves 4
Preparation time 1 day
Cooking time 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the brine
- 1.8l water
- 118ml sweet tea (Black tea and sugar syrup)
- 6 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp dried oregano
- 1½ tsp dried thyme
- 1.5-1.8 kg of chicken pieces (approximately 8 to 10 pieces)
For the assembly
- 240g all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1½ tsp paprika
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 500ml buttermilk
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
- Whisk together water, sweet tea, spices and herbs in large bowl until dissolved. Add chicken to the brine mixture, cover and chill 12-24 hours in refrigerator.
- Heat a large sauté pan (preferably cast iron) with oil to 163°C.
- Combine flour, cornstarch and spices in large shallow bowl, place buttermilk in another shallow bowl. Drain chicken from marinade and pat dry.
- Dredge the chicken pieces in flour mixture, shake off excess, dip chicken in buttermilk, and then dredge again in flour mixture, shake off excess.
- Fry chicken in batches until golden and chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
Recipe from John Seymour, founder of Sweet Chick.
