Sweet Tea Fried Chicken

This is a more contemporary dish of the American South. I've seen it pop up in various places recently online and in print; various famous persons with Southern heritage and a culinary bent have prepared this recipe for a receptive public. Yet somehow, whenever I mention the concept to associates or acquaintances, I receive blank, vapid stares (at best). 

For a people that are immensely proud of their culture, I have found that many Southerners are loath to experience anything new, culinarily speaking, even simple variations on epicurean standbys. Fried Chicken is an excellent example of this.

When you look at it, face value, it seems to be a logical, inevitable step. This is a food culture where everyone's mother makes the BEST fried chicken in the county. A culture that consumes cold black tea by the gallon, with enough sugar in it to send otherwise healthy people from cooler latitudes into diabetic shock. And further, a culture that has a tendency to marinade meats for days at a time. Weeks, sometimes. The idea of combining these techniques and qualities into a single, glorious picnic dish was WAY overdue.

So here it is. Now I'll warn you, this takes an amount of preparation. Start on this two days before you want to serve it. Another thing: this is a picnic recipe. What I mean by that is this is a recipe that holds well after cooking, and in fact tastes better cold. Don't ask me how, just does. Eating a leg now.

So, let's get on to the Whys and Wherefores. I started with one whole, young chicken. Cut it up into eight pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 breasts, 2 wings) and set it aside. Now work on your brine. It's the most important part of this process. Here are your ingredients:

1/2 gal. Black Tea, DOUBLE STRENGTH
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup kosher (or sea) salt
1 lemon, cut into slices

Mix all ingredients. Simple, huh? A point, though: Mix your sugar and salt in while the tea is still very hot. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world.

Now, bring the temperature of your Sweet Tea Brine down. I don't much care how; let it rest for a while, pop it in the freezer for a half hour, whatever. Just make sure that the tea is (at most) room temperature. You don't want to prematurely cook your chicken, even a little bit. It will prevent the flavor from seeping into your meat. When your brine is nice and cool, proceed thusly:

Place your chicken pieces into a large bowl, pour in your brine, and give it a good stir to ensure full coverage. Now cover, set in the refrigerator, and wait for two days. Yup, two days. Read War & Peace. Watch the first four seasons of Buffy. Go to work. Have a beer with total strangers and make them feel jealous over your chickeny goodness. For, umm.. two days. Yeah, I didn't think that last one through. If you MUST do something in relation to your upcoming meal (and it's a pretty good idea), every few hours or so give the chicken pieces a good rearranging to ensure even coverage. 

Provided everything has gone smoothly up to now, it's been two days and you're ready to cook. You'll need to bread the chicken. I recommend a simple, single coating consisting of:

2 cups AP flour,
1 tbsp garlic powder,
1 tbsp onion powder,
2 tsp black pepper,
1 tbsp sea salt

Sift all ingredients together.

Remove your chicken from the brine and set on a wire rack to drip drain. When no longer sopping wet (but still very damp), toss in your seasoned flour. Set aside.

Get your pan ready. Set over low-medium heat and add your cooking oil of choice. I prefer a mixture of butter flavored shortening and canola oil, but that's just personal taste. If at this time you can see through the flour on your chicken, give it another toss and start cooking as soon as your oil comes to temp.

Cook until the chicken reads 165 degrees F internally, and when stabbed with a fork the juices run clear. If you have a trace of pink, toss it back in. While cooking, turn every few minutes.

Because of the color the brine will give your chicken, it will be difficult for veteran chicken fryers to judge doneness by sight. You just kind of have to get a feel for it after the first couple of pieces.

Now, on to the eating! Again, I recommend letting it cool thoroughly, although it's still an experience nice and hot. For this meal, I served it with Sweet Potato Souffle and Strawberries, Cornbread, and a huge pitcher of Southern Sweet Tea.

Yes, I'm feeling a little homesick.