GAS STATION FRIED CHICKEN

SERVES 4–6

When breaking down your chicken here, separate the dark meat into legs and thighs, and cut the white meat in two, leaving the wings and breast plate attached. The crust coating the chicken should be soft with just a little crunch and the chicken warm or room temperature when serving.

NOTE: You will need to start this recipe one day ahead.

¾ cup rock salt

2 ½ litres warm water

1 × 1.2 kg chicken, broken down into

8 parts 2 cups cottonseed or grapeseed oil

400 ml canola oil

COATING

2 cups plain flour

1 cup cornmeal polenta 1 tbsp table salt

1 tbsp celery salt

2 tbsp ground black pepper 2 tbsp dried oregano

Add the rock salt to the water in a large bowl and stir to dissolve. Lower the chicken pieces into the brine and leave for 3 hours.

Meanwhile, for the coating, mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and transfer to a suitable container, pour over the coating mixture and push down to pack tightly, covering the surface of the chicken. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove chicken from the fridge and leave for 2 hours to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 100ºC. Heat the cottonseed and canola oils in a large heavybased skillet or saucepan to 180ºC.

Gently lower the chicken pieces into the hot oil, maintaining the temperature as best you can, and fry until a golden crust starts to form around the chicken pieces, about 6 minutes. (At this stage the chicken won’t be cooked through.) Remove from the hot oil, transfer to an oven tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Season and leave to sit on the bench for 20 minutes before serving.