In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve never had a Popeye’s
fried chicken sandwich, but since I’m so familiar with their work, I thought I
could figured out a decent copycat version of their very hard to get sandwich
anyway. Which I sort of did, as far as the taste of the chicken goes, but texturally, I ended up with something much closer to Chick-fil-A, which by the
way, I’ve been to exactly once.
So, if you’re one of these people that enjoy Popeye’s and Chick-fil-A,
this is going to be like eating at both places at the same time. The secret
here, and there, is working in a little MSG into the marinade and breading. And
by little, I mean a lot. Monosodium Glutamate is famous for its ability to make
food taste better, which is certainly does, but it’s also what makes fast food
so highly addictive.
Personally, I’ve very sensitive to this aspect of MSG
consumption, and as soon as I finish eating fast food that’s laced with it, I’m
already intensely craving more, which is why I don’t eat too much of it any
more. It’s also why I don’t stock any MSG in my pantry. I don’t trust myself
with it, which is why the occasional packet of salad dressing mix works so well
for something like this.
As I mentioned in the video, you really want to do this with
a smaller, flatter breast than the one I used. The meat to crunchy coating
ratio should be more like 2 to 1, and not the 4 to 1 that I featured here. Which
reminds me, even though I only did two, the amounts below should be enough for four
fast-food-sized portions. Anyway, no matter how large your breasts, I really do
hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
For 4 Fried Chicken Sandwiches:
For the chicken and marinade:
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
hot sauce to taste
1 tablespoon ranch dressing powder
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 5-6 ounces each
For the breading:
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon ranch dressing powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, for a spicy version
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the dip:
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
For the rest:
canola oil for frying
4 soft hamburger buns, toasted with butter
dill pickle slices
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
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