I don’t fry chicken much anymore as I did in my younger days…
you know, trying to be healthy and all…
but… When I heard about Sweet Tea Brined Chicken…
i just had to try my hand at it!
it certainly did not disappoint!
Slice those beautiful lemons, onions and separate and peel the garlic…
Get the brown sugar and spices ready to add to the liquid…
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan…
add the tea bags, remove from heat,
cover and steep 10 minutes…
discard the tea bags, stir in the brown sugar, spices, onions, lemons, garlic;
stir well until brown sugar is dissolved…
Cool 45 minutes…
Add the ice and chicken…
Place all in a gallon ziploc bag or two and refrigerate 24 hours…
The next day, drain the chicken and discard marinade…
Whisk together flour and spices and place in gallon ziploc bag…
Place a couple of pieces of the chicken at a time and shake well to coat each piece…
In your large frying pan, pour 1 1/2 inch depth of oil…
heat over medium high heat and oil is ready to add the chicken when you sprinkle a bit of flour to the oil and it sizzles…
Fry in batches for 15-22 minutes turning occasionally…
Decrease heat if it’s getting too brown…
Gorgeous!!
Drain on wire rack and place on serving platter…
Enjoy!
PrintSweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 family-size tea bags
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 small sweet onion thinly sliced
- 1 lemon thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced in half
- 1 TBSP black pepper
- 2 cups ice cubes
- 1 cut up whole chicken
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup self-rising corn meal mix
- 2 TBSP pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.
Add tea bags, cover and steep 10 minutes; discard tea bags.
Cool about 45 minutes and add ice cubes.
Place liquid in large ziploc bag and add chicken; refrigerate 24 hours.
Before cooking, drain chicken well and discard marinade.
Add a few pieces of chicken at a time and coat well.
In your large frying pan, pour vegetable oil to a depth of 1 1/2 inches.
Heat oil over medium high heat to 325 degrees. Fry in batches 15-22 minutes turning occasionally. Watch heat and adjust if necessary so as not to burn.
Drain on wire rack and move to serving platter.
Enjoy!