Okay, so fried chicken is a thing that lots of us have played with over the years. Recently, I saw our friend, Kenji, post about updating his 5-ingredient fried chicken recipe, swapping pickled jalapenos for his pickles in the recipe. He was smitten with his swap. I can agree with the move, as we did our pretzel-crusted fried chicken with cherry pepper caramel sauce for years. The spice is nice. I love the idea of simple, but, as anyone who knows me knows, I will make simple hard. My one hang-up with the 5-ingredient fried chicken sandwich is the lack of mayonnaise on the bun. Then it dawned on me. We could create a brine blending mayonnaise and cherry pepper brine. (We made a second version using giardiniera, for those who aren’t feeling the spice.) We scored our chicken and put it in a zip-top bag with the mayo brine and refrigerated it overnight. The following morning, we dredged the thighs, dripping in thick brine, in self-rising flour seasoned with salt. We refrigerated the coated chicken on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 6-ish hours (you could also leave it overnight and prep a day ahead) and then fried it at 375°F for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We seasoned the fried chicken with salt. While I fried the chicken, Aki chopped up cherry peppers and giardiniera and added them to two separate containers of heavy mayonnaise to make tangy condiments for the buns. This way, we could match the mayo to the brined chicken thighs. We toasted our buns, in this case, they were brioche-esque, and smeared the appropriate mayo onto the buns. Then we added sliced tomatoes and romaine leaves along with the chicken. We could have just put the chicken on the bun with the mayo to stay true to the 5 ingredients. But why stop there? We wanted to explore and enjoy. The 5-ingredient mayo model is magnificent. The final addition of fresh vegetables, a slaw, or something else bright is a no-brainer in our kitchen. You could definitely taste the difference between the two brines. The chicken had a great tangy flavor with a hint of spice. The crust was tender and crispy, while the meat was juicy and flavorful. And if you were wondering, a kimchi-mayo version is next on the list. One more idea to explore and expand upon: what flavor is your mayo? There is such a variety of delicious condiments on grocery shelves these days, both spicy and smoked, that it’s easy to add yet another layer of flavor without increasing the size of your ingredient list.
Ingredient Guidelines:
– Brine: 100 grams mayonnaise, 100 grams cherry pepper (giardiniera, kimchi, pickle, etc.) brine
– 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, scored
– Self-rising flour seasoned with 1% salt
– Chopped cherry peppers (or whatever pickled vegetable was in the brine)
– Mayonnaise
– Toasted buns
– Sliced and salted tomatoes
– Lettuce leaves
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