P
American · Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville Hot Chicken
Nashville hot chicken is fried chicken coated in a cayenne-heavy spice paste immediately after frying, served on white bread with dill pickles. The spice paste — cayenne, brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and lard — is brushed onto the hot fried chicken and caramelises against the hot surface. The result is simultaneously crunchy, spicy, sweet, and fatty. The white bread absorbs the spiced lard that drips. Invented at Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville in the 1930s.
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I
The Market List
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1200g
chicken thighs
bone-in, skin-on
Your own market
100g
cayenne pepper
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30g
smoked paprika
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
20g
garlic powder
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
20g
onion powder
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
15g
Tellicherry black pepper
Your own market
10g
kosher salt
Your own market
5g
dried thyme
Origin · FrancePurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
240ml
whole buttermilk
Your own market
150g
all-purpose flour
Your own market
10g
baking powder
Your own market
10g
kosher salt
Your own market
5g
white pepper
Your own market
1 liter
refined vegetable oil
for frying
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Marinate chicken in buttermilk for 240 minutes at 4°C.
2
Combine cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and thyme in bowl; reserve 30g of spice blend.
3
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and white pepper together; dredge each chicken thigh thoroughly.
4
Heat oil to 163°C in heavy-bottomed Dutch oven.
5
Fry chicken thighs 12–15 minutes until internal temperature reaches 74°C; drain on wire rack.
6
Brush hot chicken with reserved spice blend mixed with 30ml melted butter.
7
Rest 5 minutes before serving.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where Nashville hot chicken lives or dies is the spice paste application — it must be brushed on the moment the chicken comes out of the fryer while it is violently hot. The residual heat of the freshly fried chicken caramelises the brown sugar in the paste on contact, creating a glossy, sticky, slightly crisped spice crust that is distinct from raw cayenne powder applied to cooled chicken. Timing of application is the entire technique.
Pillars V — VII
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