Sarah’s Chicken Strips

Ingredients

• 1# boneless chicken, cut into strips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1C buttermilk (or 1C milk + 1T lemon juice)
• 1.5t garlic salt

• 1C flour
• 1t baking powder
• 1t paprika
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• Peanut oil for frying

Directions

1. Beat the egg and buttermilk together in a small bowl.
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large plastic baggie.
3. Dredge the chicken first in the flour mixture by shaking the pieces with the flour in the baggie. Remove them and dip them in the buttermilk mixture, then dredge them in the flour mixture again. Lay them out individually on a plate until the flour mixture sets (~5 min).
4. Fill a wok or other large pot with the oil. Heat it to a temperature of 350°F.
5. Slide the chicken pieces carefully into the wok. Fry until cooked through (frying time will vary depending on the size of the strips, ~3 min). Remove with a wire strainer and drain wither in the strainer or on paper towels or newspaper.
6. Heat the oil to 400°F. Again place the strips in the oil for a short fry jsut to get the breading nice and brown. Remove the chicken strips, drain, and serve.

Notes

Since a make a lot of chinese food involving deep-frying chicken, it’s hard for me to write specific directions for this recipe. Woks work better for deep frying because they maximize the oil’s surface area while minimizing the volume of oil required. The oil wil heat better if the wok is covered. It’s imperative to get the oil as hot as possibe for the second frying and to remove the chicken before the oil gets too cold. Oil that’s too cold results in soggy, oil-logged breading. The breading seasonings can be adjusted as desired. I used 1t of table salt in the breading, but I felt that I could easily have used more. I’ll also use more garlic salt and black papper the next time I make this dish. Finally, don’t be afraid of deep-frying! It’s not as dangerous as you fear, either health-wise, fire-wise, or burn-wise.