Thinly sliced buttermilk fried chicken breast topped with mozzarella cheese drizzled with chili oil served on a sesame bun with sriracha mayo.
Chili oil on fried chicken goes crazy.
Gochujang Buttermilk Marinade and Breading
Marinade:
2-3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons gochujang
1 egg
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon paprika
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Submerge thinly sliced chicken breast in the marinade, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place in the fridge to marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Breading:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoon paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Spread flour mixture out on a baking sheet or casserole dish and prepare to bread the marinaded chicken.
Remove chicken from the marinade allowing any excess marinade to drip off before laying down in the breading mixture. thoroughly coat both sides and press into the flour to make sure there are no wet spots remaining.
Fill a pan with at least two inches of fry oil and place on the stove over medium heat. Preheat until 350F. Carefully place the breaded chicken in the pan and fry on each side for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. place on wire rack or on paper towels to drain off any excess oil before serving.
Chili Oil
There are a handful of different recipes and variations of chili oil. Essentially all you're doing is infusing a neutral flavored oil with a number of aromatics over medium heat and then combining that oil with chili flakes. Traditionally you would use Sichuan chili flakes but in this recipe I chose to use Korean chile flakes also referred to as Gochugaru.
Ingredients:
2 cups neutral oil
3-5 star anise
2 bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
1 teaspoon cloves
3 cloves smashed garlic
1 large shallot cut in half
1 cup Korean chile flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Method:
Add neutral oil to a pot and place on the stove of medium to low heat. add in the aromatics and allow to cook and infuse into the oil for 30-60 minutes. Monitor the temperature and be sure it doesn't exceed 250F. If the oil gets too hot it will burn the garlic and shallots and cause them to go bitter and give your chili oil an off-putting flavor.
Add the Chile flakes to a heat safe bowl. Either remove the aromatics from the pot before pouring over the Chile flakes or very carefully strain the oil through a metal fine mesh strainer into the bowl of chili flakes. You want the oil to still be hot when you pour it over the chili flakes. Add the salt and stir together. Once cooled place in an airtight jar or glass container and store for up to 4 months.
