Marcus Samuelsson's Simple Method For Doubling Fried Chicken Flavor

If anyone knows fried chicken, it's Marcus Samuelsson. It's a delectable dish that makes appearances across the menus of his worldwide restaurant empire, from comfort food cravings in Harlem to brunch in the Bahamas. The renowned celebrity chef has certainly mastered the art of fried chicken by now, and you better believe he's picked up some foolproof tips along the way.

So what makes people flock to Samuelsson's restaurants around the world to taste his fried chicken? We're here to share the soul food expert's method for making an already-delicious dish even more irresistible — a crispy, juicy bird that's double the flavor, double the fried, and double the finger-licking fantasticness.

To make this "iconic recipe," as Samuelsson refers to it, the chef doubles up on two key parts of the process: the curing and the frying. He marinates the chicken in both buttermilk and coconut milk. And when it comes time to fry it up, he does it twice.

Let's talk about Marcus Samuelsson's curing method, and why his doubled-up approach is a surefire way to maximize everything we love about fried chicken. Rather than choosing one type of milk as the base of the marinade, he uses both buttermilk and coconut milk to double the effectiveness of the marinating process.

Buttermilk is often used to marinate chicken, especially before frying it, because it does two things to better the final result. Its acidity tenderizes the meat, keeping it juicy once cooked; it also primes the chicken to develop a crunchy crust once dredged and fried. Meanwhile, the coconut milk has a similar purpose as far as tenderizing and adding moisture. But because of its naturally sweet coconut taste, this is where the real flavor comes from. The meat is able to soak up that sweet, rich flavor that not only tastes delicious by itself but also pairs wonderfully with the blend of spices used and helps those other flavors stick.

Samuelsson's fried chicken recipe calls for one quart of buttermilk to ¾ cup of coconut milk (unsweetened). He mixes in garlic, along with a prepared spice blend featuring a berbere or mild chili powder, and he marinates his chicken thighs in the fridge overnight.

When it's frying time, Marcus Samuelsson doubles up again — frying his chicken not once, but twice. Why? When you fry chicken, the fatty skin needs to lose its moisture to get that ideal crispiness. But that won't necessarily happen before the chicken becomes overcooked. Setting it aside after frying it gives the chicken a bit of a buffer for the outside to dry out while the inside stays moist, priming it for the ultimate crunchy crust once you fry it the second time.

After breading his chicken in a mix of flours and cornstarch, Samuelsson fries it in hot oil (infused with rosemary and garlic, yes please) in a cast-iron skillet until it's just cooked through, for about 7 or 8 minutes. He then removes the chicken and lets it rest for 10 minutes. 

Then comes round two. He reheats the oil, this time to a slightly higher temperature, and fries the chicken again — but this time only for a minute or two, until the outside is deeply golden brown and unbelievably crispy.