I am from the south--we fry everything. Let me rephrase--I enjoy purchasing fried things but I don't know how to fry things. Shocker? For those of you who know me personally, you know I can cook anything. I can make creme brulee for crying out loud! There are a few things I haven't managed to master in the kitchen--frying things being one of them. I mean, it couldn't be that hard, right? For my birthday in July, I asked my mom to buy me a fry daddy. She bought me this one and I have to say--it's awesome!
I looked everywhere for a plain recipe of how to bread and fry chicken wings. I had two small packs in my freezer for a bit and took them out to thaw yesterday to ensure I would use them. With it raining cats and dogs outside thanks for Tropical Storm Lee, I figured today would be the day that I conquer my fear of frying things. Chicken wings I paid maybe $3 total for the two packs were the prime target. If I ruined them, I could always make some mac and cheese and make grilled ham sammies to go with it, right?
OK so I set out looking for a recipe of how to bread them and it stick. In my previous attempts of frying, the breading has fallen off. I didn't understand why it fell off. Was the oil not hot enough? was it too hot? Did I marinate them and shouldn't have? Too much flour? not enough batter? I was at the end of my rope so I googled it. I didn't find a whole lot of anything that gave me a clear idea of what I was doing wrong. The directions they had online were what I had gone off of before and I failed then. I wasn't failing today.
I share recipes with my coworkers often at work. One of my cw's is from New Jersey and I love her to pieces. It was a rocky relationship in the beginning but I heart her and love working with her now. She had asked me before for a baked wing recipe to do hot wings, and it came up in convo before she knew how to fry chicken. So when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I went to the one person I knew would give me what I was looking for. She is just learning how to cook more, but let me tell you--she knew what she was talking about. She told me her mom taught her you dunk the seasoned chicken (just with salt, pepper, tony's, whatever else you were using) in ice cold water, flour them, dunk them back in the ice cold water and flour them all over again. I was VERY hesitant at this technique b/c wouldn't the seasoning blend come off when I dunked it in water, and then the flour come off when I dunked it back in there?
I was nervous but I did one wing her way before I did all of them. Holy schnikes--her momma knew her stuff! It fried crispy and perfect--I was so excited. I immediately texted her and told her that her momma knew her stuff and to tell her I love her. She laughed and said she would let her know and pump her head up for me. If her momma lived down here, I'd have totally went to find her, hug her and tell her I'd mop her floors or do some chores around her house. My frying fear had finally be conquered. I won the battle. Now my jeans won't like me this fall probably now but that's ok! I was hoping they wouldn't fit this fall anyways!
No Fail Fried Chicken Wings
however many chicken wings you need for your family
4 cups of flour seasoned with season all, salt, pepper, whatever you prefer
seasoning you prefer for your chicken
3 cups ice cold water
Enough oil for the pot/fryer you are using to fry said chicken
Heat oil to 375 and ensure it's that hot. Season chicken accordingly how you prefer it to be.
Dunk seasoned chicken quickly in ice cold water, ensure it all gets coated.
Flour the chicken completely.
Dunk chicken back in ice cold water, drip off and put back in flour.
Flour chicken again really well.
Once oil is heated to the desired temp, then drop wings in small groups in the oil. Your
chicken should be completely submerged in the oil. My chicken wings were fried 3 at a time in my fryer and it took 9 minutes to fry each batch. It was tedious but it's only three of us and I only friend 12 wings! The time really flew by!
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