fried chicken Archives | Page 2 of 2

I still recall the first time I had this fried chicken at my aunt’s kitchen in Trinidad, topped with the juice of lime pepper sauce which had been marinating for a couple months. The succulent pieces of chicken was just outstanding with the drops of spicy sauce, but the crispy skin stole the show. It’s just one of those things (moments) which will forever be engraved in my memory. The recipe itself is very simple and even with minimal ingredients, the flavor really stands out.

You’ll Need…

1.5 cups light soy sauce
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 chicken (about 4 bs)
Vegetable oil for frying

Notes: You can add a 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder to the marinade for extra flavor and a little finely chopped scotch bonnet pepper will add the “wickedness” to everything. You’ll also need the juice of a lime or lemon to wash the chicken.

Here’s a tip to know how much vegetable oil you’ll need for frying so you won’t have a dangerous mess with overflowing hot oil when you add the seasoned chicken to the pot. It will also help you determine how large a pot you’ll need. Place your chicken (before seasoning) into the pot you plan on using to fry, then using a measuring cup, pour in water until the chicken is covered. Be sure to write down how many cups of water it took to completely cover the chicken (this will be how much oil you will need). After covering the chicken with water, make sure there is about 3 inches of space before the rim of the pot. Since as you add the chicken to the hot oil it may rise and try to flow over.

Now remove the chicken and get ready to marinade.

Wash the chicken with cool water and lime or lemon juice, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Then place in a large zip lock bag and place the bagged chicken in a bowl which can fit in your fridge. So in the event of a leaky bag, you won’t have a mess in your fridge. All you have to do now is pour in the soy sauce and grate the ginger directly into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can as you seal the bag.. then massage the entire chicken so the marinade gets up-close and personal with the entire bird.

Allow the now seasoned chicken to marinate in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove from the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature as you heat the oil for frying (get it to about 325F). Using paper towels, dry off the chicken so we won’t have any liquid causing problems when we introduce it to the hot oil.

With my oil nice and hot (med/high flame) I gently added the chicken to it.

Depending on the size of your chicken, it can take between 40 and 50 minutes to cook all the way though and get you that lovely crispy skin. If you’re using chicken pieces, it should be fully cooked after about 25 minutes. I then placed the fried chicken to cool on a cooling rack in a baking tray. So the excess oil will drain into the tray.

Since we’re using soy sauce to marinate the chicken, you may find that the chicken may turn out to be a bit salty (why we went for light soy sauce). You can certainly rinse the chicken with cool water after marinating overnight to help with that, but the sort of salty base is what’s unique about this fried chicken.. get some Hoisin sauce and the sweetness will work as a good balance for the chicken. Don’t forget to have some good Caribbean pepper sauce ready as well.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Island Style Chicken Strips.

May 27, 2025September 14, 201224 Comments

After posting the video recipe for these island style chicken strips on the Youtube channel, it quickly became one of the most requested recipes. Following on the technique we’d use for making fried chicken when I was a kid on the islands (still remember pounding the Crix crackers to make the crumbs), these could easily be the best chicken strips you’ll ever have. While making the Mango Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce I felt I needed to have something to go along with it and I really didn’t feel like grilling, so I went freezer diving and came up with a couple chicken breast. The rest is delicious history.

You’ll Need…

2 chicken breast (split) about 1 lb
2 eggs
2 scallions
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
salted crackers (about 1.5 cups crumbs)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 cups oil for frying (veg oil)
3/4 cup all purpose flour

Notes. I used a bone in chicken breast which I got the strips from, but you’re free to use boneless chicken breast if you’d like to save on time. Remember to wash the strips with the juice of a lime or lemon and cool water, then drain dry.

Place the crackers in a zip lock bag or in a tea towel and using a rolling pi or wine bottle, crush until you have the consistency of bread crumbs. I like a bit of texture, so I try to leave some of it a bit chunky. Set aside in a bowl.

Chop (finely) the scallions, thyme and parsley. Then add it to the bowl with the cracker crumbs and give it a good stir. I know this step is a bit strange to my Caribbean readers as we’re seasoning the bread crumbs and not the chicken as we would traditionally do.

Cut the chicken into 1/4 inch strips (don’t fuss with being even), wash, drain and set aside. Crack both eggs into another bowl and toss in the black pepper and salt and give it a whisk. We now have the chicken cut into pieces, the seasoned crumbs and eggs. It’s time to set up a batter and frying station. We’ll need the veg oil in a deep pan (I used a small wok so the oil doesn’t splatter onto the stove while frying) on med/high heat, a plate with the flour, the seasoned crumbs, the chicken strips, egg wash and have a paper towel lined plate or basket to drian off the excess oil when the chicken strips are done cooking.

Take a piece of chicken and dust it in the flour, then into the eggs (make sure it’s covered in the eggs mix) and drain off the excess egg and roll in the seasoned bread crumbs. Do about 4-5 of these so once you start adding to the hot oil, you’ll have a few to go in at the same time.

Your oil should be hot by now, so gently place each strip in. Flip after a couple minutes and keep an eye on them. If you find that they’re browning too fast, turn your heat down a bit. It takes about 5-7 minutes to fully cook and have that lovely golden brown colour. Drain on the paper towels and continue until all the chicken strips are cooked. Sprinkle (while hot) with a little sea salt (not mentioned in the ingredient list).

These chicken strips will look stunning when they come out of the fryer, with the golden colour and specs of green herbs. And not to be out done… they will be absolutely delicious. With a wonderful crunch from the seasoned cracker crumbs (airy as if yo used panko crumbs), tender and very moist (fully cooked) on the inside. You’ll be a super hero to your kids after you serve up a batch of these.But be warned that they won’t want you to go back to the stuff you used to get them at Mc Donalds.

TIP: Thread each chicken strip onto a bamboo skewer before battering (cook as mentioned above) and you’ll have an attractive dish to take to your next company lunch… finger food heaven! Place on a platter lined with some leaf lettuce (gotta have a green back ground) and serve with a little of that mango honey mustard bbq sauce I showed you how to make a couple recipes ago. You’ll look like a culinary star!

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Fried Chicken From The Islands.

May 27, 2025September 18, 201053 Comments

caribbean style fried chicken recipe

If you’ve been following the updates on the Facebook Fan page, you would have seen where I was asking for suggestions for a fried chicken recipe, as I had a severe craving and didn’t feel like KFC or Popeye’s! I wanted chicken that had that strong home-fried taste, texture and smell. I wanted to control the spices I used as well, since the goal was to recreate the same sort of chicken I enjoyed as a boy growing up on the islands. I still recall my mom saying “yuh have to let it cool down”, ignoring that and feeling the pain of steaming hot chicken.

Thanks to everyone who left me their suggestions and family secret recipes. Rather than use one, I combined some aspects of all and the end product was simply amazing. When all you see are bones on a plate after your children had their dinner, you know you’ve struck gold with that particular recipe. So again.. thanks to everyone who contributed.

You’ll Need…

For seasoning the chicken:

5-6 LBS chicken pieces (I used legs and thighs)
1 teaspoon peppersauce (hot sauce – use as much as you can tolerate)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger (powder or as I did – fresh grated)
1 teaspoon green seasoning (see notes below if you don’t have green seasoning)
1 lime / lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar to wash the chicken pieces before seasoning.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the dusting:

1-2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

* oil for frying. I shallow fried, so I used about 2 1/2 cups vegetable oil.

* if you don’t have the green seasoning (<< click there for the recipe) mince fine:
– thyme
– scallions
– shado beni or cilantro
– parsley (flat leaf)
– 2 cloves garlic

* You’ll also need 2 eggs.

Start off by trimming of fat and excess skin, but I left a fair amount of skin on the chicken ( you can remove it while you’re eating). I find that the skin give the meat a sort of protection and prevents it from drying out while frying. Then I pour the lime or lemon juice over it (you can also use vinegar). Rinse with water and strain dry. Then it’s on to seasoning the chicken (btw I used dark cuts of meat and I tried to keep them all the same size). In a large bowl use the ingredients mentioned above to season the chicken. Make sure to stir well, cover and allow to marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours.

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In a heavy pan, heat the oil on medium/high heat and while this heats up, lets do a couple things.

1. Crack the two eggs into a small bowl and whisk… then add to the bowl with the seasoned chicken and give it a good stir. Try to get all pieces of the chicken coated with this egg mixture.

2. Pour the flour onto a plate and add the paprika and black pepper and mix well.

jamaican fry chicken

seasoning for fried chicken

seasoning flour for fried chicken

The next step is to dust the pieces of chicken into the flour mixture we just made. Be sure to cover all pieces and shake off any excess flour before placing into the hot oil. My pan was not very large, so I did 3 pieces at a time, as I didn’t want to crowd the pan and have it go soggy from the reduction in the oil’s temperature. Depending on how big the pieces of chicken you have and the cut (dark or white meat), the cooking time will vary between 15 and 20 minutes. In my case it took about 18 minutes and I flipped each piece every 4-5 minutes, since I was shallow frying. If you find that the outside is going brown too fast, it’s an indication that your oil may be too hot. Adjust accordingly.

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Remember that it’s hot oil that you’re working with so be very careful. Have a wire tray or paper-towel lined basket ready to place the cooked pieces of chicken to drain off any excess oil. Continue doing in batches and remember to give it a few minutes to cool down before serving.

trinidad fry chicken recipe

trini fried chicken recipe

Give this a try and I’m sure you’ll be amazed at how tasty, moist (without being “wet”) and crispy at the same time. I’d really appreciate it if you leave me a comment below, even if it’s just to say hello. And for those of you who assisted with this recipe on Facebook, thanks. BTW, if you’ve not already connected with us on Facebook, do so NOW by clicking on the image below.

fried chicken

Chinese Style Fried Chicken.

Island Style Chicken Strips.

Fried Chicken From The Islands.

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