buttermilk fried chicken burger with bacon, cheese, kewpie mayo, sriracha sauce and a few other bits and pieces

The first time I tasted buttermilk fried chicken I was hooked. It was served in a burger and it was only a matter of time until I tried it at home. It may seem like there are a lot of steps involved but it’s not as complicated as you may think. You will, however, have some very messy benches by the end of it. Flour, milk, oil… it’s hard not to make a little mess. The result though? Definitely worth the extra clean up time. These buttermilk fried chicken burgers are delicious!

ingredients

for the chicken

• 4 medium sized chicken breasts, butterflied
• kosher salt for dry brining
• 1 1/2 cups plain or gluten free flour
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• peanut oil for frying

for the filling

• cos lettuce
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 cup finely sliced red cabbage
• 1/2 carrot, grated
• 2 pickles, thinly sliced
• bacon
• cheese
• kewpie (japanese) mayo
• hot sauce (we used Sriracha)
• brioche buns

directions

1. Butterfly the chicken breasts and dry brine using 1/4 tsp kosher salt per breast. Refrigerate overnight if possible.
2. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan or wok to a temperature of 300f/150c and keep it at that temperature throughout.  The oil should be at a depth of roughly 1.5 centimetres.
3. Whisk together the flour, cayenne pepper, paprika and black pepper.
4. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture and set aside on a wire rack.
5. In a bowl lightly whisk together the buttermilk and eggs.
6. Drop each chicken piece into the milk and egg mixture and then back into the flour making sure they are well coated. Transfer back to the wire rack and check the temperature of the oil.
7. When the oil is steady at 300f/150c carefully place the chicken breasts into the oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan or wok. If you have to fry one at a time then so be it. Once cooked you can put the breasts on a tray with some baking paper and keep them in a warm oven.
8. Cook for approximately 4 minutes each side.
9. From here the real fun begins – building the burger! For me it goes something like this from the bottom up… bun, cos lettuce, cheese slice, chicken breast, cheese slice, bacon, pickles, onion/cabbage/carrot, kewpie, hot sauce.

For a gluten free option you can use gluten free flour and cos lettuce leaves instead of burger buns…

Enjoy your buttermilk fried chicken burger!

Like all things burgers what you use for filling and for sauces is totally up to you. For other burger ideas check out our freshly ground beef burger, extreme beef burger or our pulled pork and slaw burger.