The Perfect Fried Chicken

Published on Thursday, June 18, 2009, by Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith / Edit Post

The Perfect Fried Chicken

By Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith

When Southern food experts Matt and Ted Lee announced that Chef Charles Gabriel’s fried chicken from Rack & Soul in Manhattan was perfect, we knew we needed to investigate. The brothers—James Beard Award–winning food writers, New York Times contributors, and cookbook authors (The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook)—explore the secrets of Chef Gabriel’s thrice-seasoned, skillet-fried delicacy. Look for the Lee brothers’ newest book, Simple Fresh Southern, in November.

The unparalleled. The best in show. We call it The Perfect: our video series on how something so very good gets to be that way.

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  • It says expired because for some reason the default error message is "expired" not "error."

    It bugs me too.

    Meredith of CHOW

  • Why does this say it expired?

  • Hi, We are experiencing a video error that is affecting certain videos on the site. Our engineering team is looking into it. Be assured that we are aware of the problem and will do what we can to get it fixed asap. Thanks for watching, Meredith of CHOW

  • what a bad deal. y'all advertise the video in your emails and when I try to open it I am told it has expired? What is the deal here?

  • Why can't we view the video or get the recipes???????

  • 'Stroud's' in Kansas City that pan fries chicken (and have for near 100 years).

  • This is awesome. I grew up in the South, but my parents were from the North and my mother hated fried chicken. So I taught myself how to make it. It never occurred to me to season the chicken 3 different times - I'm definitely going to try it that way! Great tips, thank you, especially about the soy oil. And now I'm craving fried chicken.

  • Chow is now part of CBS. They probably own the publishing company that's selling the book. It's synergy from a corporate marketing perspective but to us old Chow hounds it's obnoxious. It perverted the site.

  • As I went back to the e-mail that I saw this chicken, it did say in almost microscopic print, that it was an advertisement. I guess it was a plug for their book, but no way am I going to pay $35 for this cookbook! I'll just guess at the video for ingredients/directions. Next time, I'll get a telescope or magnifier to read my e-mail first. Booooo!

  • Sure, lure us in drooling for a great recipe and all we got was a video...what gives? Is this recipe in the Lee Bros. book? Was this just
    an advertisement for it? I guess I have to drive over to the restaurant
    and try it. Will also try and figure out the recipe from the video as best
    I can.

  • I agree with kdsexton..... WHERE'S THE RECIPE?????

  • i want the recipe????

  • Tujague's Restaurant in le Vieux Carré, New Orleans still pan-fries chicken. The Chicken Bonne Femme is wonderful.

  • I suspect conventional deep frying dries the chicken out unless of course you use one of those professional sealed deep fat/ steam fryers. Skillet cooking on the other hand gives you better control over the temperature creating a moister texture for the chicken. I am from London and my mum is from the Caribbean and she cooks her chicken this way using a pot called a Dutchie.

  • Well...where is the recipe?????

  • Highly recommend this skillet-fried New Orleans recipe for Fried Chicken. It's made here in Boston by a chef who's mom is from NOLA. H-E-A-V-E-N!! http://how2heroes.com/videos/entrees/skillet-fried-chicken

  • I'm not sure what the big difference is between skillet fried and deep fried. My mom and grandma prefer the skillet while I swear by deep frying. To get the requisite tenderness to the chicken, we all cover the pan at some point during cooking. They put the lid on during the final turning of the chicken while I cover the deep fryer for most of the cooking time. I prefer theirs only because I...+READ

    I'm not sure what the big difference is between skillet fried and deep fried. My mom and grandma prefer the skillet while I swear by deep frying. To get the requisite tenderness to the chicken, we all cover the pan at some point during cooking. They put the lid on during the final turning of the chicken while I cover the deep fryer for most of the cooking time. I prefer theirs only because I don't think I've achieved their flavor yet but the crispiness and tenderness are really about the same.

    I love fried chicken so I'll check out Chef Gabriel's restaurant next time in NYC. Also want to experiment with Cook's Illustrated AND Thomas Keller's ideas on pulling off on what both sources have described as "the best fried chicken ever". In both cases, the chicken is brined prior to frying and then coated a few times in batter and flour.-COLLAPSE

  • Here are several New Orleans recipes for fried chicken, including Austin Lesley and Buster Holmes.
    http://mrlake.fncinc.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2282

  • One thing I forgot- I just learned this from Christopher Kimball's fine magazine, Cook's Illustrated: if you want to avoid a cakey batter, add a teaspoon of cornstarch to your flour. It works beautifully.

  • Well, an older African American woman used to cook for my mamma in San Francisco. Her skillet-fried chicken was the best in the city, as far as I was concerned. She was from Alabama., my mother was from Georgia, so the two had their moments. I remembered asking Aila May Waddles what the secret was to her batter. She said, "I always add baking powder to the flour, and add lots of seasonings to the...+READ

    Well, an older African American woman used to cook for my mamma in San Francisco. Her skillet-fried chicken was the best in the city, as far as I was concerned. She was from Alabama., my mother was from Georgia, so the two had their moments. I remembered asking Aila May Waddles what the secret was to her batter. She said, "I always add baking powder to the flour, and add lots of seasonings to the flour. The seasonings were thyme, a little garlic powder, and a lot of salt and pepper. I never did get the type of oil she used. Probably Crisco, melted. The baking powder was the secret, as far as I was concerned.

    Her other secret was to finish the batch off in the oven, for about 15 minutes. Delicious!-COLLAPSE

  • Fellows, you should know that several restaurants in New Orleans pan fry their Chicken, Henry's, Dooky Chase, Lil Dizzy's and for my money Tujague's on Decatur Street fried chicken is the best. Their Chicken Bonne Femme is beyond sublime,

  • Ok, Lee boys, you need to take the NYC blinders off. Take a trip down I-70 from Columbus, OH to Kansas City, MO and you can experience some of the best SKILLET fried chicken in the world! eat in Indiana and have your world turned. Eat in Illinois and leave crumbs on your chin and finally finish at Stroud's in KC and enjoy the cinnamon roll that comes with your SKILLET fried chicken :)
    Love you...+READ

    Ok, Lee boys, you need to take the NYC blinders off. Take a trip down I-70 from Columbus, OH to Kansas City, MO and you can experience some of the best SKILLET fried chicken in the world! eat in Indiana and have your world turned. Eat in Illinois and leave crumbs on your chin and finally finish at Stroud's in KC and enjoy the cinnamon roll that comes with your SKILLET fried chicken :)
    Love you two, but come on!-COLLAPSE

  • This may be the only place in New York City that still pan frys chicken, but I'll atest to the fact many mom and pop eateries here in the south still do it that way. So does my dad. He's southern too.

  • Here is a link to several southern (New Orleans) fried chicken recipes.
    http://mrlake.fncinc.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2282

  • I had a hard time getting past the part he said he had... 12 brothers and 8 sisters....

    wow, I was sick of 1 sister

    This guy, bless his heart for surviving that many siblings, does take the step a lot of cooks miss; he seasons the chicken not just the coating.

  • HI Meowzebub,

    Here's a thread about your problem on the "Technical Issues" page of the site! http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/651450

    Thanks, Meredith of CHOW

  • The "Perfect" videos won't play for me.
    I have no problems with "Chow Tips" etc, but the "Perfect" series say its unavailable or blocked by an adblocker.
    I don't understand, given that other Chow videos are readily viewable. Any help?

  • Bake??!! Then that is baked chicken...not fried chicken! If you think it's "too fat" then you have no business watching a video on the best fried chicken. Clearly it ain't yo thing. Oh and pan fried obviously enables one to turn the chicken more, hence it being a different and better cooking method than using a deep fryer.

  • looks great ,one order please !!! drop off at ..... cupertino ca that is north ca !john

  • BAKE,NOT FRY-TOO FAT

  • I should say DEEP FRYING.
    Ever see a turkey fryer infernal?
    Same thing can happen.

  • Frying in a skillet is the best way to burn down the house.

  • Brothers or lovers? Anyway... is it just me or is this emphasis on how great skillet fried chicken is (as opposed to deep fried) just a teensey bit disingenuous? I mean, I would say that about 80-90% of the available surface area on those pieces of chicken was submerged in oil. How that remaining 10-20% can possibly make such a difference is beyond me. Contact with the bottom of the pan? Maybe,...+READ

    Brothers or lovers? Anyway... is it just me or is this emphasis on how great skillet fried chicken is (as opposed to deep fried) just a teensey bit disingenuous? I mean, I would say that about 80-90% of the available surface area on those pieces of chicken was submerged in oil. How that remaining 10-20% can possibly make such a difference is beyond me. Contact with the bottom of the pan? Maybe, but doubtful. When I do fried chicken (yes - in a skillet) I use about half an inch of oil, and turn it obsessively, for whatever that's worth. I will, however, put this place on my list for my upcoming visit to NYC (I happen to be visiting one of the world's major fried chicken enthusiasts, so we'll see...).-COLLAPSE

  • I think that's the best and only way to make fried chicken. Kudos to the chef.

  • Wow, I am putting this one on my list or restos to hit next time I am in NYC!

  • The only establishment in the world that does skillet fried chicken, they need to realize that there is a world outside of NYC. Strouds in Kansas City is just one place that skillet fries their chicken.

  • Wow, I love these guys. Geeky cool. Cool geeky. Whatever -- this skillet-fried chicken looks fantastic. Chef, congratulatons.

  • They might be good food writers, but Misterkot is right - it hurts to watch them. They "style" does not translate well to video.

  • aw! cut the brothers some slack -- they're food writers not TV hosts! :)
    chicken looks awesome

  • I was there a month or so ago for a late lunch. The chicken was tough and stale. Mr. Gabriel was nowhere in sight.

  • I love the Lee Brothers! Have you seen their amazing cookbook? So good.

    Meredith of CHOW

  • It looks good, but the Lee brothers have to go. Ouch! It hurts to watch them.