There can be few of us who have not been drawn by the lure of the Chicken Shop at 2 in the morning, but it is equally certain it is among the guiltiest of pleasures, for reasons far too complex to be gone into here! Enough to say that it is a much better idea to get messy in the kitchen and make this most satisfying of foods yourself. There are a few tricks involved in the transfer from commercial kitchen to domestic, mainly to ensure the chicken is thoroughly cooked while not burning the crisp, spicy crust which is surely the whole point of the exercise. The method described here is tried and tested, and will turn out perfectly every time.
As to which bits of chicken to use, there are a couple of roads you can go down here – if you enjoy this sort of thing, get a whole chicken and joint it, if you don’t, buy those drumstick/thigh trays available in the supermarket. Again here it’s up to you if you get skinned or not, but Dirty Chicken is always better with the skin on!
We also include the recipe for a deliciously sweet and fiery dipping sauce to go with your chicken, based on Korean gochugaru chilli flakes, which nowadays seems de rigeur on the streetfood scene in London. Speaking of which, it does no harm to add some gochagaru to the chicken seasoning if you want some fire in there from the start!

01.

Ingredients

Chicken, 3 or 4 pieces per head
1litre Buttermilk (regular milk works fine too, although the flavour is not so rich)
150g plain flour (no need to be exact here, just make sure there’s enough to coat the chicken thoroughly)
1 40g tub Spice Mountain Cajun Seasoning
4tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes) (optional)
Sunflower, rapeseed or vegetable oil

02.

Method

  • Pour the buttermilk into a bowl, adding a teaspoon of salt, one of pepper, a shake of tabasco and one of Worcester sauce, and 2tsp of paprika. Immerse the chicken pieces in this, cover and refrigerate for a few hours. Remember to remove the chicken from the fridge about an hour before cooking, just to bring it back to somewhere near room temperature (this will help with making sure it is properly cooked).
  • Meanwhile pour the flour in a deep tray, add the Cajun seasoning (and gochugaru if using) and mix thoroughly. If you have a deep-fat fryer, heat it to 170d, or alternatively use a deep, heavy pan. (NB Make sure the pan is no more than half filled with oil, and remember to watch a pan of oil at all times!). If using the pan method, you can either check the oil temperature with a thermometer, or if a piece of bread sizzles and rises straight away, it is good.
  • Remove the chicken from the ‘milk marinade’ and get it into the seasoned flour, making sure each piece is thoroughly coated. At this point, make sure your oven is on, heated to 170d.
  • When the oil is hot, carefully add the chicken, three or four pieces at a time. Still being extremely careful, let the chicken bubble away in the oil until the coating turns golden and crisp, about 10-15min depending on the size of the pieces. Once they reach this stage, remove from the oil, drain on some kitchen paper and place on a tray in the hot oven. Repeat this process until all the chicken is on that tray, and leave it in the oven for 15 minutes or so. This will ensure that the chicken is cooked through, but still remains juicy and moist inside. Open the oven to release that wonderful 2am aroma, imagine you’ve just got in from the pub, and your Dirty Chicken is ready to serve!
  • For the gochugaru dipping sauce – simply blend 2-6tsp of gochugaru (2 being mildish, 6 being hot!) with 200ml of tomato ketchup, 1tsp of garlic powder/puree, 1tbs dark soy sauce and 1tbs balsamic vinegar. Voila!