Fried Chicken Nuggets

This post is going to be more like a tutorial on how I fry chicken.  I need to do this first so I can post an awesome Lemon Chicken recipe on Friday.  These nuggets are good all by themselves too.  I like this recipe because it's simple.  Mixing the flour in with the ice water creates less of a mess- bonus!  Let's get started.........

Start your ice water first so it can get as cold as possible.  Start heating your oil to 375 degrees.  I have an electric fryer which makes things easy.  If using a pot, you need a few inches of oil. 

Get 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cube them into 1" pieces.  You don't want a ton of small pieces cause you'll end up frying chicken all night long- did that ONCE :)

Dry the chicken with a paper towel, then take a handful of flour and toss it with the chicken.....then set aside.

  

Grab a large bowl and whisk 1 egg and 1 C. ice water together like below.  (Don't worry about getting ice in too.)

Next, add 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 3/4 cup flour- mix until most of the flour is incorporated.  You'll still have little chunks of flour.....

Add another 1/4 C. flour, but only stir 2-3 times.  It should look like this.....(it feels wrong not to mix it more!)

Take some tongs and pick up one piece of chicken, dunk it in the batter, tap it against the side to remove any excess and gently place it in the fryer.  (*Use a different pair of tongs for stirring and removing the nuggets-otherwise you'll fry batter to the tongs making them super hard to clean up).  Stir the nuggets around so both sides cook.  When the outside is golden brown.....

......transfer to a cooling rack (I put mine on a cookie sheet so the oil can drip off).  I keep mine in a warm oven until all the chicken is done frying- just preheat the oven to the lowest temp setting, then turn it off to create a warming zone.

Pretty simple.  You can check the biggest piece to make sure the chicken is cooked through- I've found that by the time the batter is golden brown, the chicken is always cooked perfectly.

You can lightly salt them at this point if you're going to eat them as chicken nuggets.

RECIPE

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 C. ice water

1 egg

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 C. flour (plus another handful)

Canola or Peanut oil for frying

* Make your ice water and set aside while you heat oil to 375 degrees.  Cube the chicken into 1" pieces.  Pat dry with a paper towel and toss with a handful of flour.  In a large bowl, whisk egg and ice water together.  Add 3/4 C. flour, salt, pepper and baking soda- stir until almost all of the flour is incorporated.  Add another 1/4 C. flour and only stir 2-3 times.  Dip each chicken piece in batter, tap it against the side of the bowl to remove any excess batter, and place in the oil.  Fry until the pieces are golden brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack or paper towel.  Lightly salt (optional).