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Plate 08 of 10

Nashville Hot Chicken

Prince's revenge chicken. Pickle-brine buttermilk, a double dredge, a fry to a craggy crust, then the defining move, a ladle of the hot frying fat whisked into cayenne, brown sugar, paprika and garlic, and the chicken dipped straight through the molten red paste onto white bread with pickles.

Prep
30 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
4, from 8 pieces
Difficulty
Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

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Pieces of fried chicken glazed a deep crimson red with a crackly crust, resting on slices of soft white bread with crinkle-cut pickles on toothpicks.
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In the 1930s, in North Nashville, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack was born of revenge. The story goes that Thornton Prince came home late from a night out and his furious lover buried his Sunday fried chicken under a mountain of cayenne. He loved it, perfected it, and opened a shack.

Nashville hot chicken is not tossed in a bottled sauce. The chicken is brined in spiced buttermilk, dredged, and fried until it shatters. The instant it leaves the fryer, hot frying fat is whisked into cayenne, brown sugar, paprika and garlic, and the chicken is dragged through that molten red oil onto cheap white bread with dill pickles.

Ingredients

  • Brine

  • 1 whole, about 1.8 kgChicken, cut into 8 pieces
  • 1 LCultured whole buttermilk
  • 60 mlDill pickle brine, from the jar
  • 30 mlLouisiana fermented hot sauce
  • 15 gFine sea salt

  • Dredge

  • 400 gPlain flour
  • 50 gCornflour
  • 10 gFine sea salt
  • 8 gCoarsely ground black pepper

  • Frying

  • 1.5 LPeanut oil or lard

  • Hot glaze

  • 60 gGround cayenne pepperthe authentic Hot; 3 Tbsp for Medium, ¾ cup for Extra Hot
  • 30 gDark brown sugar
  • 15 gSmoked paprika
  • 10 gGarlic powder
  • 5 gOnion powder

  • To serve

  • 8 slicesSoft white sandwich bread
  • 16 slicesCrinkle-cut dill pickle chips

Capsaicin dissolves in fat

Capsaicin barely dissolves in water or vinegar, and readily in hot oil. Whisking the dry cayenne into 130 to 150 °C frying fat pulls the heat and the red carotenoids out of the powder into a shimmering paste, and the brown sugar melts into a thin caramel film that makes it cling.

Not Buffalo

A vinegar-based bottled sauce soaks the crust soft. The Nashville glaze is pure hot fat and dry spice, which sinks into the crevices and stains the crust crimson while it stays crisp.

Both hot, or it congeals

The chicken and the spice oil must be piping hot when they meet.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the pickle-juice buttermilk brine and the seasoned glaze. Fat is the fried skin, peanut oil and the lard paste. Acid is pickle brine in the marinade and pickles on the plate. Heat is a bloom of cayenne, black pepper and garlic. Umami is fried chicken skin and browned fond in the oil.

Equipment

  • 8-quart enamelled cast-iron Dutch oven with a deep-fry thermometer
  • Large heatproof stainless bowl and a whisk
  • Silicone pastry brush or tongs
  • Wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet
  • Instant-read thermometer

The shack uses a cast-iron skillet or an open fryer. At home the Dutch oven holds the oil at 170 °C and a steel bowl takes the hot fat for the glaze without cracking.

Method

  1. Brine in pickle buttermilk4 to 12 hr

    Whisk the buttermilk, pickle brine, hot sauce and salt. Submerge the chicken, cover, and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours.

    Whisk the buttermilk, pickle brine, hot sauce and salt. Submerge the chicken, cover, and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours.

  2. Double dredge20 min

    Whisk the flour, cornflour, salt and pepper. Lift each piece from the buttermilk, let it drip, and dredge thoroughly, pressing firmly. Dip back in the buttermilk for one second and dredge again. Shake off the excess and rest on the rack 15 minutes to set the starch.

    Mix flour, cornflour, salt and pepper. Drain each chicken piece; dredge firmly. Dip back into buttermilk 1 second, dredge again and shake off excess. Rest on a rack 15 minutes to set the coating.

  3. Fry26 min

    Heat the oil to 170 °C. Fry in two batches, dark meat first, 12 to 14 minutes to 80 °C, then white meat 10 to 12 minutes to 74 °C. Rest on the rack.

    Heat the oil to 170 °C. Fry in two batches, dark meat first, 12 to 14 minutes to 80 °C, then white meat 10 to 12 minutes to 74 °C. Rest on the rack.

  4. Whisk the molten glaze2 min

    In the steel bowl combine the cayenne, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and a teaspoon of salt. Carefully ladle 250 ml of the hot frying oil, around 150 °C, straight from the pot into the bowl. It will foam, sizzle and darken to a crimson paste. Whisk hard for 30 seconds.

    Combine cayenne, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a steel bowl. Carefully ladle in 250 ml frying oil at about 150 °C; expect foaming and sizzling. Whisk hard 30 seconds into crimson paste.

  5. Glaze3 min

    While everything is hot, dip each piece straight into the paste with tongs, turning to coat, or brush it heavily over every surface. Let the excess drip 3 seconds and return to the rack.

    While everything is hot, dip each piece straight into the paste with tongs, turning to coat, or brush it heavily over every surface. Let the excess drip 3 seconds and return to the rack.

  6. Plate

    Lay two slices of white bread on each plate. Set the hot red chicken on the bread, spear pickle chips on toothpicks, and serve at once with more pickles.

    Lay two slices of white bread on each plate. Set the hot red chicken on the bread, spear pickle chips on toothpicks, and serve at once with more pickles.

  7. Sensory cues of doneness

    • Visual: a glistening crimson crust flecked with dark spice on pale white bread beside green pickles.
    • Auditory: a crackling snap through the glazed crust, and a vigorous sizzle when the hot oil hits the spice bowl.
    • Olfactory: roasted cayenne fumes, toasted brown sugar, garlic, chicken fat and dill vinegar.

    Look for glossy crimson spice-flecked crust. Expect a crisp snap when cut and vigorous sizzling when oil meets spices, with cayenne, toasted sugar, garlic, chicken fat and dill-vinegar aromas.

Troubleshooting

Soggy crust.

Wet bottled hot sauce was used. The glaze is hot frying fat whisked with dry cayenne and sugar, nothing else.

It is just fried chicken.

Too little cayenne. Half a cup is the authentic Hot; it is meant to be fierce.

A greasy, congealed coating.

Cold chicken into cooled oil. Both must be piping hot.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

IngredientReplace withCulinary impact and technique adjustment
CayenneGround árbol chilli or Indian deggi mirchOne-to-one. A pure hot red pepper powder, not a chilli powder blend
Peanut oilLard or high-oleic canolaOne-to-one. Peanut oil gives the high-heat performance
ButtermilkWhole milk plus 2 Tbsp pickle juice, curdled 10 minutesOne-to-one

Scaling

Half

Four pieces in a 6-quart pot, and half the glaze: ¼ cup cayenne with ½ cup hot oil.

Double

Sixteen pieces in batches, and double the paste in a wide steel bowl.

What to serve it with

  • Soft white bread underneath, which soaks up the spiced fat and becomes the best bite
  • Cold crinkle-cut garlic dill pickles
  • Sweet tea, cold milk, or a neat Tennessee rye

Questions

Why white bread?

It is an edible blotter. It soaks up the cayenne lard dripping from the crust and is eaten last.

How do I set the heat?

Mild is 2 Tbsp cayenne and 2 Tbsp paprika. Medium is ¼ cup cayenne. Hot is ½ cup. Beyond that, ¾ cup and a teaspoon of ghost pepper.

Can I use tenders?

Yes. Boneless tenders fry in 4 to 5 minutes at 180 °C and glaze the same way.