KFC chicken shortage: Make your own fried chicken with these five recipes from top chefs

As many restaurants remain closed, why not give it a go in your own home?

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This weekend KFC was forced to close hundreds of its restaurants in the UK after it ran out of chicken.

Branches in Bristol, Berkshire, Cheshire, Devon, Newcastle, Suffolk and Surrey were all affected by an issue with the chain's new delivery partner causing it to shut 700 of its 870 UK stores.

Unsurprisingly, poultry fans were outraged upon discovering that Kentucky Fried Chicken had run out of Kentucky fried chicken, but all is not lost.

While the fast food chain says it’s “working flat out” to reopen branches, for those who can’t wait why not cook your own?

Here, we list five of the very best recipes from some of the industry’s top chefs to help you get your chook fix.

Jamie Oliver – The best Kentucky-style fried chicken

When cooking, Jamie recommends doing the dark meat first (jamieoliver.com)

Ingredients (serves four)

• Vegetable oil, lard or a mixture of both
• 1 large free-range chicken, jointed into eight (ask your butcher to do it)
• Plain flour
• Cayenne pepper

Method

1. In a large, deep cast-iron frying pan, add the fats until about one-third full.

2. Heat it until a haze rises, or a cube of bread browns in a minute or less.

3. Place some flour in a brown paper bag – this is not optional, the best bags come from Wholefoods, but two greengrocers’ bags doubled-up will do. Plastic bags make the coating claggy.

4. Season with a pinch of sea salt, a sprinkling of cayenne and lots of black pepper.

5. Shake the chicken parts in the bag. The chicken parts should be dry when tossed in the flour – to soak them in buttermilk, or use batter, is heresy.

6. Shake off the excess flour, then fry the chicken in batches, so as not to crowd the pan. Do the dark meat first, skin-side down, turning. When the chicken is golden all over, cooked through and perfectly juicy with a crunchy crust, it's done.

7. Drain the chicken on kitchen paper and serve quickly – though some prefer it cool, at room temperature

Gordon Ramsay – California ‘Fried’ Chicken Sandwich

Gordon Ramsay pairs his with avocado slices, shredded iceberg lettuce and a yoghurt dressing (gordonramsay.com)

Ingredients (serves four)

• 50g wholemeal flour
• 200ml buttermilk (or 2 eggs, beaten)
• 150g puffed rice
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder or granules
• 4tsp paprika
• 1tsp dried sage
• 8 mini chicken breast fillets
• 4 wholemeal buns
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, stones and sliced
• ½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Mexican hot sauce such as Cholula (optional), to serve

For the yoghurt dressing

• 75ml Greek yoghurt
• 1.2 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp cider vinegar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas 4.

2. Put the flour, buttermilk and puffed rice into three shallow bowls. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and dried sage to the buttermilk and mix well. Crush the puffed rice with your hands so that the pieces are broken down slightly but not powdered.

3. Dip a piece of chicken into the flour so that it is completely covered. Remove and shake off any excess, then dip into the buttermilk. Allow any excess buttermilk to drip off, then put the chicken pieces into the puffed rice. Turn over to make sure they are completely coated, then place on a baking tray. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

4. Put the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden and cooked through, turning halfway through cooking.

5. Meanwhile, make the yoghurt dressing; mix together the yoghurt, crushed garlic and vinegar with a little salt and pepper. Taste and add more vinegar if needed.

6. Slice open the buns and divide the avocado slices between them. Top with shredded iceberg lettuce.

7. Once the chicken is cooked, place on top of the lettuce and spoon over dollops of the yoghurt dressing, as well as a drizzle of hot sauce, if desired. Close the buns and serve immediately.

Hairy Bikers – Korean Fried Chicken

The Hairy Bikers first had this dish at the back of garage in Seoul (hairybikers.com)

Ingredients (serves four)

• 8-10 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Vegetable oil, for deepfrying
• Sesame seeds, for sprinkling (optional)

Brine (optional)

• 100g caster sugar
• 75g sea salt

First Coating

• 35g plain flour
• 15g cornflour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt

Batter

• 125g plain flour
• 25g cornflour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100ml vodka

Sweet Soy Sauce

• 100ml soy sauce
• 25ml mirin
• 25ml rice wine vinegar
• 20g root ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, grated or very finely chopped
• 50g brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Few drops of sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornflour

Chilli Sauce

• 2 tbsp Korean chilli paste (Gochujang if you can get it, or a hot sauce or paste)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• A few drops of sesame oil
• Sea salt (optional)

Method

1. If you have time, start by brining the chicken. Dissolve the sugar and salt in 200ml of hot water, then add another litre of cold water. Submerge the chicken and leave it for 2 hours.

2. To cook the chicken, drain and rinse it thoroughly if you’ve brined it, then pat it dry. To make the first coating, whisk the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together – this coating helps the batter to stick, otherwise it tends to fall off. Dust the chicken in this mixture, patting off any excess, and leave it to stand while you make the batter.

3. To make the batter, whisk together the dry ingredients, then add 100ml of ice-cold water and the vodka – the texture should be quite thin, rather like unwhisked double cream.

4. Half fill a deep fryer or a large saucepan with oil and heat the oil to 160°C. If you don’t have a thermometer and you’re using a saucepan, test the oil with a piece of bread – it should take around 30 seconds to turn a crisp golden brown; any quicker and the oil is too hot.

5. Dip the chicken pieces in the batter one at a time. Allow any excess to drip off over the bowl containing the batter, then slowly lower each piece into the hot oil, letting go when it is almost completely submerged. Fry for 8–10 minutes, then remove and drain on kitchen paper. The chicken should be cooked through but barely taken on any colour.

6. Now heat the oil to 190°C, or if using a saucepan, turn the heat up and leave it for about 5 minutes to reach the right temperature. When the oil is ready, fry the chicken for another 2 minutes until it has darkened. Remove and drain thoroughly. It should be beautifully crisp. Serve the chicken as it is with the sauces, or brush some of the sweet soy sauce over it and serve with rest and the chilli sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like.

7. For the sweet soy sauce, put the soy, mirin, rice wine vinegar, ginger,garlic and brown sugar in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat to dissolvethe sugar, then simmer for a couple of minutes. Taste for seasoning, adda little salt if necessary and a few drops of sesame oil to taste. Whisk thecornflour with a little cold water until you have a smooth but very runnypaste, then whisk this into the sauce over a low heat, until the saucethickens very slightly. Set aside.

8. For the chilli sauce, simply whisk all the ingredients together and thin with a little water if too thick. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Rachael Ray – John Besh’s Grandmother’s Fried Chicken

Rachael says it's important to cook the chicken in small batches (rachaelrayshow.com)

Ingredients (serves six)

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• Salt and freshly ground pepper 
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 quart milk
• Canola oil

Method

1. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces generously.

2. Mix the flour and onion and garlic powders together. Dip the chicken in the milk then dredge through the flour mixture to coat well.

3. Heat 2 inches of canola oil in a skillet to 350F. Drop the chicken, in small batches, into the oil. It’s important not to add more than one piece of chicken to the pan every couple of minutes. The first piece will brown a good bit faster so add larger pieces first and then the smaller ones.

4. Fry, covered, for 10-12 minutes.

5. Turn pieces over and cook for an additional 8 minutes.

6. Place on paper towels to drain and salt immediately.

Delia Smith – Southern Fried Chicken

Delia suggests serving the chicken with saute potatoes and a crisp salad (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ingredients

• 8 chicken joints
• Groundnut oil, for deep frying
• A little milk
• 110g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper
• Rock salt, crushed

Method

1. Into a wide, deep pan, pour enough oil to give a depth of 1 inch (2.5cm) and heat to 350F/180C, or until a small cube of bread turns crisp and golden in 1 minute.

2. Meanwhile, dip the chicken pieces in milk. Mix the flour with the baking powder (I use a plastic bag), adding a good seasoning of salt and freshly milled black pepper.

3. Jump the chicken joints up and down in the flour to coat them evenly.

4. Now deep-fry them in the oil for 15 minutes, turning them over occasionally. When the chicken joints are cooked, drain them on crumpled greaseproof paper and serve immediately, sprinkled with a little crushed rock salt.