Owen Han's Genius Tip For The Best Chicken Sandwich Of Your Life - Exclusive
When you are the sandwich king, the pressure is on to find and make interesting and new creations. But sometimes, it's making those classic sandwiches that everyone knows and loves that can be the true test. Owen Han has millions of followers who watch him create all kinds of crazy concoctions for sandwiches. However, recently, Han took on the classic fried chicken sandwich. While experimenting with different cuts of meat, Han detailed a genius trick to provide an extra crispy and crunchy layer on the chicken. We sat down with Han in an exclusive interview where he gave us the details of the technique.
"Essentially," says Han, "get extra batter on your fingers and dribble it over whatever you're frying." When you make fried chicken, there is a wet batter and a dry coating. Han dribbles wet batter off his fingers into the dry coating before the chicken gets coated with both layers. "That just creates crispy, crunchy bits that will coat onto whatever protein you're frying at the last second and just create more of a crunch, which, more crunch is always better for me."
Battered and fried to perfection
If this technique sounds familiar, it is because it is often utilized when frying other proteins. "That's actually a technique I've noticed that people do when they fry fish. To get extra crispy beer-battered fish," says Han. He was able to take this technique and utilize it to improve the chicken sandwich.
Of course, Han also came in with his opinion on the breast versus thigh debate. For him, the breast was the overall winner. "For me, the chicken breast, it just covered the surface area of the bun more completely, and it gave it ... It was thicker, more ... not juicier, but it has more surface area, so more crunch available," he says. "Overall, it gave it a more chicken bite just because there's more meat as opposed to the thigh." He does acknowledge, though, that the thigh offered more surface area to hold crispy coating, so if that is your objective, using a thigh might be advantageous. Han's drip technique with a chicken breast will give you the best of both worlds: a thick chicken base and a delectable crunchy coating.
Catch Owen Han at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (February 22-25).