Southern Pan-Fried Buttermilk Chicken
Chicken brined in salt water, soaked overnight in buttermilk, dredged in flour and cornstarch, and pan-fried in a skillet of lard and butter flavored with country ham, the Edna Lewis way.
In "The Gift of Southern Cooking" (Knopf, 2003), Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock set down Southern basics as they cooked them, pan-fried chicken among them. Their method takes two days and nearly every old Southern trick at once: a salt-water brine, an overnight buttermilk soak, and a skillet of lard and butter that has slowly cooked with a slice of country ham. Southern mills that sell heirloom flour still teach it: Anson Mills' own pan-fried chicken says its lard, butter and pork-fat frying mixture "comes by way of Edna Lewis". Wikipedia notes that fried chicken became an everyday Southern dish after abolition and remains a common Sunday dinner. Buttermilk itself is a later layer on the 1824 recipe (#1), which used flour and salt only.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Chicken brined in salt water, soaked overnight in buttermilk, dredged in flour and cornstarch, and pan-fried in a skillet of lard and butter flavored with country ham, the Edna Lewis way.
🇺🇸 The original
The oldest American printed recipe we found, from 1824, dusts cut-up chicken in flour, salts it and fries it in lard, served with a parsley gravy. No buttermilk soak and no spicy crust. See the 1824 Virginia Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy (Mary Randolph) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Brine, then buttermilk
The salt brine seasons the meat all the way through and helps it hold its juices, and the buttermilk adds tang and a slightly sticky surface for the flour to grip.
Flavored fat
Slowly cooking the ham in the lard and butter turns the frying fat itself into a seasoning, and cooking the water out of the butter first keeps it from spattering and burning.
Step by step
- Step 1
Day one: stir the salt into the water until dissolved, add the chicken, cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
- Step 2
Drain the chicken, rinse the bowl, return the chicken and pour in the buttermilk to cover. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours more.
- Step 3
Day two: lift the chicken onto a wire rack to drain and throw away the buttermilk. Put the lard, butter and ham in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat and cook 30 to 45 minutes, skimming the foam, until the butter stops foaming and the ham is browned. Lift out the ham.
- Step 4
Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge each piece thoroughly, then pat off the excess.
- Step 5
Heat the fat over medium-high to 335°F. Add a few pieces at a time, skin side down, without crowding.
- Step 6
Fry 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown underneath, then turn and fry 8 to 10 minutes more, keeping the fat near 325°F, until the breasts read 165°F and the thighs and drumsticks 175°F.
- Step 7
Drain well on a wire rack or crumpled paper towels and fry the rest. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Southern Pan-Fried Buttermilk Chicken
Serves 4 · about 8 pieces · 1 hr 40 min total
Brine and soak
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 4 cups cold water
- About 3 1/4 lb chicken pieces, bone-in and skin-on (a whole chicken cut into 8 is fine)
- 4 cups buttermilk
Frying fat
- 1 lb lard
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 thick slice country ham (about 2 oz), cut into 1/2-inch strips
Dredge
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Method
- Day one: stir the salt into the water until dissolved, add the chicken, cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
- Drain the chicken, rinse the bowl, return the chicken and pour in the buttermilk to cover. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours more.
- Day two: lift the chicken onto a wire rack to drain and throw away the buttermilk. Put the lard, butter and ham in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat and cook 30 to 45 minutes, skimming the foam, until the butter stops foaming and the ham is browned. Lift out the ham.
- Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge each piece thoroughly, then pat off the excess.
- Heat the fat over medium-high to 335°F. Add a few pieces at a time, skin side down, without crowding.
- Fry 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown underneath, then turn and fry 8 to 10 minutes more, keeping the fat near 325°F, until the breasts read 165°F and the thighs and drumsticks 175°F.
- Drain well on a wire rack or crumpled paper towels and fry the rest. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Adapted from Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock's "Southern Pan-Fried Chicken" in "The Gift of Southern Cooking" (2003), as reprinted by RNZ (Radio New Zealand), January 22, 2005. The reprint gives about 3 1/4 lb (1.5 kg) of chicken and no serving count; we call it 4. It leaves out the black pepper amount, so 1 tsp is ours, and we convert its 170°C to 335°F. The doneness temperatures are from USDA FSIS (165°F) and America's Test Kitchen (175°F for dark meat). Anson Mills' adaptation is linked for comparison. We could not open the book itself. rnz.co.nz. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Plan backward: start the brine the morning before, the buttermilk that night, and fry the next afternoon.
- Kosher salt matters in the brine; table salt is much saltier by volume.
- The fried ham strips are the cook's snack. RNZ's reprint notes the chicken is good hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.
- No lard? The reprint allows peanut oil in its place.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Buttermilk is traditional. Disputed: Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock soak in buttermilk, but the oldest printed American recipe, Mary Randolph's of 1824 (#1), uses only flour and salt.
- Fry in a skillet, not a deep fryer. Folklore: a skillet is the home tradition in these recipes, but Nashville, Maryland and the KFC-style recipe below all fry in a deep pot.
- Lard and butter with ham. Documented for Lewis's recipe (RNZ reprint); Anson Mills says Lewis used country ham where it uses bacon.
- Turn the chicken only once. Folklore: a common rule; Lewis's reprint simply fries 8 to 10 minutes per side.
- Breasts are done at 160°F. Disputed: several test-kitchen recipes stop there; USDA FSIS says 165°F for all poultry. We use 165°F.
Every other fried chicken
1824 Virginia Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy (Mary Randolph)
The oldest American printed fried chicken recipe we found: chicken dredged in flour and salt, fried light brown in lard, with fried parsley and a simple butter and milk gravy poured over the top.
Nashville Hot Chicken
Brined, double-dredged fried chicken brushed with a fiery cayenne oil and served the Nashville way, on slices of white bread with pickle chips.
Maryland Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy
Chicken seasoned with dry mustard and garlic, dredged, browned in a covered pot so it steams as it fries, finished with Old Bay and served with a peppery cream gravy made from the drippings.
Korean Yangnyeom Chicken (Double-Fried Sweet and Spicy Wings)
Chicken wings in a light potato starch and egg batter, fried twice for a shatter-crisp crust, then tossed in a glossy sauce of gochujang, ketchup, syrup and garlic and showered with sesame seeds.
Japanese Chicken Karaage
Bite-size pieces of skin-on chicken thigh marinated in soy, sake, ginger and garlic, coated in flour and potato starch, and fried twice in under three minutes.
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Yan Su Ji)
Bite-size chicken thigh marinated with garlic, ginger, soy and five-spice, coated in coarse sweet potato starch, fried crisp and tossed with fried basil and five-spice salt.
Indonesian Ayam Goreng Kalasan
No batter at all: chicken braised in garlic, coriander, palm sugar and coconut water until the liquid cooks away, then fried briefly until the sweet-savory skin turns deep golden.
Chicken and Waffles
Herb-and-paprika fried chicken, double-dipped for a crunchy crust, served on light, crisp waffles made with whipped egg whites and finished with butter and maple syrup.
Air-Fryer Fried Chicken
Skinless bone-in chicken breasts in a buttermilk and crushed cornflake coat, seasoned with poultry seasoning, paprika and cayenne, air-fried crisp with just a spray of oil.
Kentucky-Style Fried Chicken, Inspired by KFC
Buttermilk-brined chicken in a peppery coating of flour, white pepper, celery salt, garlic, ginger and herbs, fried in one covered batch to mimic a pressure fryer. Inspired by, not official.
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