No doubt, chicken nuggets are a universally loved snack, and the die-hard fans would even go as far to serve a bowl full of the golden fried wonders as a main meal. Oft-considered something that is best left to certain takeaway outlets, we’re here to tell you that better can be done in your own kitchen.
Many have attempted to nail the formula, though few have conquered, and that’s why we’ve enlisted Melbourne’s prodigy chef, entrepreneur and TikTok foodie Morgan Hipworth to assist in actualising your nugget dreams. He’s created the recipe for The TikTok Food Festival which is on right now until Saturday 12 June—scope out his recipe below and check out everything else happening for the digital celebration of all food here.
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus marinating time
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Chicken Nuggets
- 3 chicken breasts or thighs, cut into ‘chicken nugget shapes’
- ½ cup (125 millilitres) buttermilk
- ¼ cup (60 millilitres) pickle juice
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 cup (150 grams) corn flour
- 1 tablespoon each of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder
- 1 teaspoon each of pepper, ground oregano, ground basil, mustard powder
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil, to fry
- chicken salt, to season
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- For the homemade sweet-and-sour sauce:
- ½ cup (160 grams) apricot jam
- 2 tablespoons glucose
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon yellow American mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Method
- In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, pickle juice and salt, then add the chicken, and mix to coat the chicken. Allow the chicken to sit in the marinade at room temperature for at least 30minutes or up to overnight.
- While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce. In the bowl of a food processer, combine all the sauce ingredients and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan over medium heat and stir for 2–3 minutes or until the mixture comes to the boil and becomes clear. Pour through a sieve into a bowl and set aside to cool.
- In another bowl, combine the corn flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, oregano, basil and mustard powder.
- Heat a fry pan over medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Drain the chicken from the buttermilk and dust generously into the dry mix, then place in the hot oil. Fry for 2–3 minutes or until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towel and toss with chicken salt, then serve with the cooled sweet-and-sour sauce.
Keep up the comfort food and have a crack at this boozy Bloody Mary Gnocchi dish once you're done.
Image credit: supplied