I loveee myself a good spicy chicken sandwich. Crispy deep-fried chicken fillet paired with a spicy mayo sauce and a tangy colesaw between two pillowy bread slices honestly makes for one of the best bites. Unfortunately, i don’t live near any good chicken sandwich places so it has been a mission for me to recreate it at home. Honestly, i thought it would be quite challenging as it involves deep-frying but it turned out to be sooo much better and easier than i had expected.

This recipe is going to show you to make your own crispy buttermilk fried chicken, spicy mayo and a tangy slaw! If you love crispy chicken sandwiches as much as i do then I really hope you try this recipe out yourself!

Some of the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and some tips!

1. Chicken: you could use either chicken thigh fillets or breast fillets. I do prefer thighs as they are a bit fatter and hence will result in a juicier fried chicken. If you do end up using breasts, just make sure you portion it out and butterfly it out evenly so that the piece is even in thickness throughout for even cooking.
2. Marinating time: High recommend you to marinade the fillets overnight so the flavours can penetrate and the fillets get tenderised. If you are short on time then minimum 2 hours.
3. Buttermilk: buttermilk is essentially a by-product when butter is made from churning cream. It is used in this recipe to make the muffins extra moist while adding flavour to the muffins. If you don’t want to buy buttermilk, you can make some by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon to 1 cup of normal dairy milk, and let it sit for 5 minutes (this will make 1 cup of buttermilk).
4. Pickle juice: aka pickle brine that you can find in your jar of pickles! The acidic brine helps to break down the protein and creates a juicy fried chicken
5. Hot sauce: you can use your favourite hot sauce throughout this recipe. I used sriracha and it worked out great. Adjust quantity of hot sauce to achieve your desired spiciness.
6. Spices: the spices we’ll be using in this recipe are smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic and onion powder. This is the spice blend i chose but you can feel free to adjust/change the spice blend to whatever you like!
7. Potato starch: this helps to create a dry batter that’s crispy when fried! If you do not have potato starch or you cannot find it, you could opt out for corn starch instead.
8. Spicy mayo: it’s going to be a spicy ketchup mayo but please do adjust the spice level to your taste. I used store-bought kewpie mayo for the base of this sauce, which i highly recommend you do too to cut down on time and effort.
9. Tangy slaw: this helps to cut through the greasiness of the chicken and adds freshness to the sandwich. Hack: buy store-bought pre-sliced cabbage (coleslaw packet) so that you can save time and not have to cut the cabbage yourself.

Ingredients

4 brioche burger buns, toasted
Pickles, sliced

Buttermilk Fried Chicken:
4 chicken thigh fillets
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup pickle juice
1 egg
2 tbsp your favourite hot sauce (i used sriracha)
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt

Dry Breading:
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup potato starch (you could also use cornstarch)
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper, adjust to taste
2 tsp garlic powder
Salt + pepper

Coleslaw:
400g or 4 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup mayonnaise (i used kewpie but you can use normal egg mayo)
1-2 tsp mustard, adjust to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt + pepper

Spicy mayo:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (i used kewpie)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
salt + pepper

Method

1. Marinade Chicken: In a bowl, add in the buttermilk, pickle juice, egg, hot sauce, paprika, baking soda, and salt. Mix well then submerge the chicken thighs into the mixture. cover and fridgerate for 2 hours or best overnight.
2. Coleslaw: In a bowl, add in all the ingredients for the coleslaw, minus the cabbage, mix well to make the dressing. Add in the cabbage and toss for the dressing to be evenly coated. Set aside
3. Spicy mayo: In a bowl, add in all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well to combine. Set aside.
4. Dry Breading: In a bowl, add in all the ingredients for the dry breading mixture. Mix well to combine.
5. Breading the chicken: Take your marinaded chicken out of the fridge. With a spoon, pick up some of the marinade and drip droplets into the dry breading mixture to create some texture for the chicken when we bread. Lift up 1 fillet at a time and allow the excess batter to drip off. Dip the fillet into the dry breading mixture and allow the fillet to be evenly coated by the flour mixture. Make sure to press the flour into every nook and cranny. Repeat with the other fillets then set them aside for 10 minutes.
6. Frying the chicken: Bring a pot of neutral oil (i.e. vegetable or canola oil) to 175-190C or 350-375F. Carefully and slowly drop in 1 fillet at a time and fry for roughly 7-8 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain on a paper towel to cool slightly.
7. Assemble: Place some spicy mayo on the bottom bun, followed by the fried chicken, 4 pieces of pickles, slaw and lastly the top bun. Enjoy!