Food - Drink
You Should Be Adding Vodka To Your Fried Chicken Recipe. Here's Why
By LAUREN ROTHMAN
Fried chicken is relatively simple to make, but there are many pitfalls that can result in soggy-crusted, raw-inside, not-very-flavorful pieces of chicken. Ensuring better fried chicken results doesn't have to be complicated, and one popular method involves adding a few spoonfuls of vodka to the chicken brine or batter.
As explained by Serious Eats, adding a half cup of high-proof vodka to a simple batter for fried chicken can create a super-crispy result. Vodka can loosen a batter just like the more popular water or buttermilk does, and has a neutral flavor that won't interfere with the recipe, but the biggest reason you should use it has to do with gluten.
Gluten, the protein that makes breading chewy, cannot form in alcohol, so using vodka of at least 40% ABV will help ensure a light, airy, and crispy coating on your chicken, instead of a thick, chewy one. Vodka also evaporates more quickly and bubbles more in the hot oil than other liquids, creating more crispy bubbles on the chicken.