For almost 67 years (since 1940), the KFC company carefully kept their chicken recipe secret. Recently, the Chicago Tribune newspaper published it. The newspaper got the original recipe of ’11 herbs and spices’ from Colonel Sanders’s nephew. The man found it in the notes of the second wife of the KFC founder.
Here is the legendary recipe that allows you to cook delicious chicken.
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Soaking time: 20-30 minutes
Frying time: 15-18 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 2/3 tablespoon of salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1/2 tablespoon of dried basil
- 1/3 tablespoon of dried marjoram
- 1 tablespoon of celery salt
- 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of dry mustard
- 4 tablespoons of bell pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons of garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon of ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons of ground white pepper
- 1 cup of low-fat cream
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 sliced chicken; the fillet part should be additionally cut into halves for more even frying
- canola oil
- How to make it:
- Mix the flour and all of the spices in a cup.
- Take another cup and mix the egg with the low-fat cream. Soak the chicken pieces in the mixture of cream and egg at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Take the chicken pieces out of the cream, and wait until the excess drips off. Dip the chicken pieces into the mixture of flour and spices until the pieces are covered. Shake off the excess. Put the chicken pieces on a rack, and leave for 20 minutes.
- While you are waiting for the chicken to be ready for frying, pour 7-8 cm of oil into a pot with thick high sides (or you can use a Dutch oven), and heat over medium-high heat to 175°C (347°F). Use a kitchen thermometer to monitor the temperature. When it reaches 175°C, reduce the heat to medium. Fry 3-4 chicken pieces until they have a golden brown crust (15-18 minutes), turning them over just once. Lay the cooked chicken on a plate covered with paper towels.
It’s remarkable that this recipe is considered to be one of the most valuable commercial secrets in the field of nutrition. Its copy with Sanders’s autograph on it is kept in a safety box in the company’s headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.