Dining and Cooking
Chefs’ Collections

Cold Fried Chicken

This is the first cold fried chicken I ever tasted, at Prune, in the East Village, where the chef, Gabrielle Hamilton, makes everything as slanted and far-fetched as nature itself. I don’t know why she served it cold, not hot; I only know that I loved it, and do still. She served it with butter lettuce and buttermilk dressing, and it is very good that way. It is also very good with hot sauce.

Ingredients

For soaking

  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

For dredging

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 ½ tablespoons ground black pepper
  • Enough shortening or peanut oil to come 6 inches up a high-sided pot
  • Nutritional Information
    • Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

      1132 calories; 92 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 49 grams monounsaturated fat; 23 grams polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 43 grams protein; 225 milligrams cholesterol; 4625 milligrams sodium

      • Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.

6 servings

Preparation

  1. One day before you’re frying, mix all the soaking ingredients in a big container or two. Put the thighs in to soak, and refrigerate overnight.
  2. The following day, mix the dredging ingredients in a big deep bowl or high-sided roasting pan. Remove the chicken from the soak, piece by piece, allowing excess buttermilk to drip off away from the dredge. Drop each piece into flour mixture, a few at a time, leaving space between each piece. Shake, and toss to coat each piece evenly and thoroughly.
  3. Lay the dredged chicken on a rack set over a cookie sheet to allow the coating to dry and cling, leaving space between the pieces.
  4. Heat oil to 325 degrees, testing with a thermometer, or by dropping a few specks of flour in, and begin to fry when the specks sizzle calmly. Fry in batches, until just shy of golden. Continue until all have been fried, lowering the heat as needed to keep the temperature constant, and straining out excess flour to keep the oil clean. Let thighs rest on a rack over a cookie sheet or dish towel. Skim all the excess flour out of the oil, or carefully strain it into a new pot and raise heat to 350. Fry the thighs again, in batches, to (in Hamilton’s words) “finish to gorgeous deep golden brown.”
  5. Drain on a rack. Leave at room temperature for a same-day picnic, or refrigerate overnight if you’re eating the following day. Bring buttermilk dressing! Bring hot sauce! Bring butter lettuce! Bring rosé!

1 hour, plus soaking time

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