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The Ultimate Fried Chicken Taste Test: Recipes From Around The World

Fried chicken is beloved globally, with countless regional variations and cooking methods. This taste test explored 30+ different fried chicken recipes to determine the best technique, American style, international style, and ultimately create the perfect hybrid fried chicken.

Testing Criteria

Recipes were scored on a 10 point scale:

  • 1 = Unfit for human consumption
  • 10 = Greatest chicken ever tasted

The top scorers in each category were combined into one ultimate fried chicken.

Fried Chicken Methods

6 common frying methods were tested to find the best technique:

Methods Tested:

  • Air Fryer
  • Shallow Fry
  • Pressure Cooker
  • Baked
  • Pan Fried
  • Deep Fried

All used same marinade and breading to control variables.

MethodScoreNotes
Air Fryer7Soggy, faint metallic taste
Shallow Fry20Golden brown, uneven crispness
Pressure Cooker9Didn’t properly pressure cook
Baked7Not truly “fried”
Pan Fried26Crispy, rich, decadent
Deep Fried28Perfectly crispy, juicy, flaky

Winner: Deep Frying

Deep frying produced the crispiest, juiciest, and most tender fried chicken.

American Fried Chicken

14 popular American fried chicken recipes battled.

American Recipes Tested:

  • Chicken Tenders
  • Popcorn Chicken
  • Nashville Hot Chicken
  • Buttermilk Fried Chicken
  • Barberton Chicken
  • Chicken Fries
  • Chicken Nuggets
  • Orange Chicken
  • Buffalo Wings
  • Fried Chicken Sandwich
  • KFC Copycat
  • Chicken & Waffles
  • General Tso’s Chicken
  • Cajun Fried Chicken
RecipeScoreNotes
Nashville Hot27Spicy, flavorful, juicy
Buttermilk27Classic, tender, delicious
Buffalo Wings30Perfectly fried, tangy hot sauce

Winner: Buffalo Wings

The crisispy deep fried wings tossed in hot sauce achieved a rare perfect score.

International Fried Chicken

15 beloved global recipes competed for best international fried chicken.

International Recipes Tested:

  • Malaysian Ayam Goreng
  • Japanese Karaage
  • Korean Fried Chicken
  • Filipino Chicken Adobo
  • Persian Saffron Lime Chicken
  • Jerk Chicken
  • Indian Butter Chicken
  • Swiss Schnitzel
  • Spanish Pollo Frito
  • British Fish & Chips Chicken
  • Jamaican Fried Chicken
  • West African Chicken Yassa
  • Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa
  • Singaporean Hainanese Chicken
  • Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
RecipeScoreNotes
Thai26Fresh, gingery, hint of sweetness
Karaage28Japanese pub favorite. Crispy, juicy.
Chongqing29Lip numbing Sichuan peppercorns

Winner: Chongqing Chicken

The Sichuan peppercorns gave this Chinese dish a slightly numb spiciness that the judges loved.

Creating the Ultimate Fried Chicken

With category winners selected, it was time to combine them into the ultimate fried chicken recipe:

  • Method: Deep Frying
  • American Style: Buffalo Wings
  • International Style: Chongqing Chicken

This hybrid recipe merged the crispy deep frying technique with the spicy buffalo sauce and numbing Sichuan peppercorns.

The result was an utterly unique flavor profile unlike any other fried chicken. Sweet, spicy, savory, tangy, crispy, and tender all in perfect harmony.

CategoryWinning RecipeKey Attributes
MethodDeep FriedJuicy, crispy, flaky
AmericanBuffalo WingsVinegary hot sauce
InternationalChongqingSichuan peppercorns

While this may not be traditional, it represented the best of all styles in one glorious fried chicken masterpiece.

Conclusion

This exhaustive worldwide fried chicken taste test ultimately yielded a unique hybrid recipe that combined the best attributes of various traditions.

Frying technique proved critical, with deep frying emerging as the clear winner. American and international styles offered diverse flavor profiles from different cultures and ingredients.

Blending these elements formed a symphony of crispy, spicy, tangy, and lip-numbing fried chicken nirvana. An instant new classic was born through experimentation and an openness to fuse cuisines.

While traditionalists may scoff, this synthesis of global flavors showcases how food boundaries continue to be broken in our ever-connected world. And the end result tastes pretty amazing too.

What fried chicken styles or cooking methods would you like to see explored next?

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