Thursday, July 31, 2008
Recipe File Bites Exclusive: Winning Hot Chicken Recipe!
Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 5:00 AM
In an earlier thread about the recent Music City Hot Chicken Festival, held July 4 at East Park, we offered hearty and grease-soaked congratulations to this year's winner, Justin Jones of Team Soda Pong. We also said that we'd asked Justin to send us the recipe that cinched his first-place prize, but so far we hadn't heard from him.
This was not a surprise. Hot chicken recipes are guarded more fiercely than child brides. No local grail is more keenly sought than the mysterious mixture of spices and incendiary devices that gives Prince's Hot Chicken its atomic glow.
But all of a sudden, to our undying wonder and gratitude, what should arrive via ePony Express but a missive from Justin Jones--and with it the winning recipe!
A few considerations. First, we haven't tried it for ourselves (but O my readers and only friends, you can bet we will). Second, this is not the Prince's recipe, and Justin makes no claim that it is. Third, it's bound to cause some controversy on one front: all the heat is added after the chicken is cooked.
Still, this is the recipe a panel of expert judges selected as Nashville's best civilian hot chicken. Without further ado, we let Justin Jones give you the bird.
Award-Winning Hot Chicken Recipe
By Justin Jones, food adventurer and breaker of hearts
There are rules. Beware the unwitting accomplices of ignorance who would foist imposters upon us, who would carelessly suppose that Hot Chicken and spicy chicken are the same thing, who would give us something akin to a buffalo wing, who would give us bread that isn't soaked in the deliciously vibrant grease that is the delicacy's hallmark, who would deprive us of similarly seasoned pickle slices.
In the past, this culinary battle of wits might have been settled once and for all by a knife-throwing contest, a fight to the death with poison-tipped rapiers, or a game of Clue. Now, good sense and state and federal law dictate that we settle our differences more diplomatically, if less nobly, through education.
I offer this recipe to the city of Nashville as our best available weapon against the tide of ignorance, our best chance to vanquish the timid, the half-hearted, and the destroyers who would bastardize the delicacy we love. For anyone who has ever attempted to recreate Hot Chicken in his or her kitchen, this is my contribution to the solution of that mystery; I do not claim that it is the answer to all of our questions, but I do believe that it is at least a good start. It is offered also as a challenge, with the understanding that whoever undertakes it will improve upon it. I hope any worthwhile improvements will be shared with me.
The Paste (enough for one or two chicken breasts):
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp lard
3 tbsp cayenne
3 pinches sugar
3/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
Other Ingredients:
Self-rising flour, chicken, white bread, and pickles
All the seasoning is in the paste; dredge the chicken in plain self-rising flour. Fry it.
Mix all of the ingredients for the paste (microwaving the lard for about 30 seconds will make this easier). Apply it evenly and liberally to the fried chicken using either a basting brush or your latex glove-protected hands. Note: I generally use about a teaspoonful of paste for each side of a chicken breast. This method is the only way I know to get the orange, grease-soaked white bread that is the hallmark of all true hot chicken.
When you've covered the top half, flip it over onto a piece of white bread and finish the job. Enjoy.
Comments (26)
Showing 1-26 of 26
Hmmm...applying a sauce to an already fried piece of chicken? Sounds more like buffalo wings to me. Who were these judges again?
like
dislike
I don't know much, but I do know this - Ms. Andre does her magic AFTER the chicken is out of the skillet. I offer the following as my rather empirical case - one builds on the other to form the conclusion:
1) You can't have plain and extra hot out of the same batch unless the magic is applied after. Anyone who's waited 2 hours for a piece of chicken knows they all come out of the same batch and you can change your heat strength up to the last minute.
2) The secret IS the magic, and it's closely guarded. You can watch everything happen in the window up to the moment it's out of the skillet - chicken out of the cooler, chicken dredged in the non-lethal flour mixture (remember point 1), chicken dropped in the skillet, chicken removed from the skillet. But the magic happens in the far corner, closest to the window's wall, out of sight and as the order is finalized - remember, the heat preference can be change after ordering!
3) Go stand in the doorway to try and watch what's going in that corner and THAT'S when get a dirty look. Remember point 2, it's closely guarded.
as for the recipe here, very impressive. I've hung out in the doorway long enough to know one ingredient is off, but I'm not telling out of deference to Ms. Andre. And it's the only one I do know, so it's worthless anyway on its own.
For me, it's ALL about the magic. I don't want to make my own Prince's, I want theirs. But I also don't want to not believe in Santa Claus. Somewhere every Christmas, someone gets eomething they never expected, don't deserve and will forever treasure. That's exactly how I felt when I found Prince's.
Thanks for sending, Justin, and congratulations.
Sorry, I'm already too long but forgot another point for the case - the french fries, as you can order your fries with the same varying levels of heat. I won't say they're particularly enjoyable that way, but it was a good way for my clumsy palate to separate the chicken fried from the hot, so to speak, because the extra hot fries gave me a different platform to compare and thus extract what was common between chicken and fries, along with what was NOT common between fries and extra hot fries. Extra Hot Fries confirmed the post-cooking addition in that I could get an order or regular and hot from the same fryer drop, and the distinct taste and texture of lard in the extra hot fries was definitely common with the chicken but not the regular fries.
Elementary. for this pea brain, anyway.
Fascinating, S L. The main reason I figured the seasoning had to go on first was that every time I've ordered a mild breast in the wee wee hours, I never got anything less than medium. I figured that had to be the grease soaking up all that Special Something X that gives Prince's its bang.
On the other hand, the coating has always reminded me of a paste or rub. I'm guessing the ingredient that's off is the garlic powder, although a friend of mine swears that the secret is a special pepper you can only get at Asian groceries. But as Iris DeMent sang, let the mystery be.
I tried this recipe last nite, It is pretty dang close to chicken shacks, It is close enough that I will no longer wait in that dump for 45 minutes for a $7 dollar breast, when I can cook a whole bird at home for under $10. Thanks
Wonderful, I love prince's, but live too far away, I will cook my own now!!!!!
Thank you so much.
I did some detective work.... Peculiar but there is a seasoning that is only sold at HG Hills and only at the HG Hills next to prince's !(well you can order it online too) I bought it and tried it......after years of trying to bust the recipe.....I found their secret! Without a doubt its exactly the same thing they use! Thats all the secret I'm giving....but if I can figure it out you can too!
Hint the chicken shack in Murf. has chicken with a name on the menu thats very close to this seasonings name. Good luck
Digger, You're killing me...I just want to run out to the HG Hills and to Murfreesboro to check out the chicken shack even if it is an hour plus drive for me. Any more hints you would care to share? I tried the recipe listed above but the flavors weren't there for me. Thanks a gain for the clues, I look forward to trying out some new seasonings.
After round one of our HCEP (Hot Chicken Emulation Project), if Digger is indeed talking about Slapyamama dry shake, we found it was close but no cigar. Using the hot version as a shake before breading made some mighty tasty chicken, but the salt content was too high for a direct match.
Looking forward to HCEP 2.0.
You have to find the right Slap ya Mamma seasoning! There are several. Some are saltier than others.....I found that too but you must shake it well to blend it. I am without a doubt convinced this is the secret. Its all about the paste Chris, The paste goes on after frying. The paste consists of one part lard to three parts pepper mix (cayenne and slap ya mamma) Microwave the paste and brush it on or use latex gloves and put it on the chicken breast. thats where you get the red on the bread from!
Thanks for the tip, Digger. We tried normal and hot, but shaking the powder up might help. We'll add more cayenne and break down and use lard instead of Crisco next time.
I think we're close. We'll never achieve perfection, but at least it'll be something to share with friends.
I have not tried it yet, but the white pepper slap ya mamma is advertised as less salty on their site.
I just think its too suspicious that the only store I could find that had it anywhere near here was a stones throw from Prince's. A friend of mine from Fla. on FaceBook "liked" Slap ya Mamma and I clicked on the link. I have tried the slap ya Mamma chicken in Murfreesboro and it was really close and I wondered if thats where they got the name of their chicken. I dont know if thats the case or not.While on Slapyamamma.com I researched stores who sold it....and voila a big AH HA moment! I bought the hot and the regular and use it on fries or chicken breasts or even tenders and its the taste for sure. I feel as if I am closer than I have ever been on my now ten year exp eriment. I think the next batch will be the one! I didnt do the paste right last time...but still it was the closest thing I've had to Prince's , even more than any of all the hot Chicken places I have visited.
The experiment before this was buffalo wing sauce.
First I narrowed it down to Franks after trying every buffalo wing sauce and hot sauce out there.....but still it wasn't right......Then I added butter.....gettin' there.....later I learned to add apple cider vinegar as well,another ah ha moment! Finally perfection!
This has been fun and it's cool to see I'm not the only one who experiments!
Ok it is Slap ya Mamma...
The paste is two tablespoons of lard and one tablespoon of slap ya mamma hot.
I Presoak the chicken in buttermilk,pickle juice and...slap ya mamma
then roll it in flour and fry. When done apply the paste and serve with pickles and bread.
Watch Man Vs Food Nation Nashville and you will see the process but not the recipe.
The paste can also be put on chicken strips purchased from any store.....the paste is the trick!
The guy in the picture at the top actually looks like a HOT CHICKEN... LOL just sayin!
Pickle juice? Brilliant! I doubt that's the actual Prince's secret, but day-um it sounds tasty. We must give it a try soon. Thanks for giving us some of your secrets.
Just saying, the Slap Ya Mama sauce's ingredients are salt, red pepper, black pepper and garlic. All of these (minus black pepper) are in the original recipe at the top of this page. I don’t think you have to buy that exact sauce to get the right flavor.
