Honey Glazed Fried Chicken with buttermilk dressing and asian herb salad
There's a particular kind of satisfaction that comes from pulling a piece of fried chicken out of hot oil and watching the crust hold its shape - all those craggy, irregular bits that catch the glaze and refuse to let go. Add a habanero honey and crispy chilli oil glaze, a heap of fresh Vietnamese herbs and a pool of buttermilk dressing underneath, and you've got the dish I made at Fire & Spice that had people coming back for seconds before the first round had even made it around the room.
This is that recipe.
It uses two products I make here at The Larder - our Habanero Hot Honeyand our Crispy Chilli Oil - and honestly, the glaze they make together is something I think about more than I'd like to admit. It's our take on the hot honey chilli crisp moment that's been everywhere lately, but balanced with fish sauce and lime so it's got real depth rather than just heat and sweetness.
The rest of the dish does exactly what a good fried chicken recipe should: the brine keeps the meat juicy all the way through, the GF flour dredge gives you that proper KFC-style crunch (and yes, it works just as well as a regular flour dredge - I'd argue better), and the herb salad and buttermilk dressing bring everything back to bright and fresh.
Let's get into it.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Start
Brine. Please. I'm begging you. I know it sounds like an extra step. It is an extra step. It's also the difference between chicken that tastes like the seasoning is painted on the outside and chicken that tastes like it was built that way. A two percent brine - 40g of salt per two litres of cold water - with peppercorns, bay leaf and chilli flakes, for one to two hours, changes everything. You can do it the night before and leave it in the fridge. The chicken will thank you.
Double dredge is non-negotiable for the crag. If you want those big, irregular, glaze-catching pieces of coating, you need to dredge twice. Press the flour in. Shake off the excess. Back into the flour. Press again. The imperfect bits are the whole point.
Oil temperature matters. 175°C. Get a thermometer if you don't have one - they're cheap and genuinely change the way you fry. Too cool and the coating absorbs oil and goes pale and soft. Too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks through. Check between batches because the temperature drops every time you add cold chicken.
Glaze while hot. The coating is still tacky right out of the fryer. That's when you want to glaze - the sauce clings, the sugars in the honey start to caramelise slightly against the hot crust, and you get that sticky, glossy finish that looks like it came from a restaurant. If you let it cool first, the glaze just slides off.
The Recipe
Serves 4 Gluten free - contains dairy, eggs, peanuts, fish
The Brine
2 litres cold water
40g fine salt (2% of water weight)
1 tbsp black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 tsp chilli flakes
Dissolve the salt in the water. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves and chilli flakes. Submerge your chicken thighs and refrigerate for one to two hours. When you're ready to cook, remove the chicken and pat it completely dry - this is important. Any moisture on the surface will steam the coating rather than crisp it.
The GF Flour Dredge
1½ cups GF plain flour
½ cup GF cornflour
1½ tsp celery salt
2 tsp smoked paprika
1½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fine salt
Combine everything in a wide, shallow bowl. The cornflour is what gives the coating its particular crispness and helps it hold up under the glaze - don't skip it or sub it out. Taste the raw mix - it should be well seasoned enough that you'd eat it off your finger.
The Chicken (700g boneless thighs, approximately 4 pieces)
Pour enough neutral oil into a small bench-top fryer or heavy pot to fry comfortably. Heat to 175°C.
Working one piece at a time, press each chicken thigh into the dredge and coat generously. Shake off the excess. Press back in a second time, working some of the dry flour into the folds and edges to create irregular texture. Shake off excess again.
Lower 3–4 pieces carefully into the hot oil. Fry for 5–7 minutes, turning once halfway, until deep golden all over and cooked through.
Lift out and drain on a wire rack. Do not put them on paper towel - they'll steam underneath and soften the base. Repeat with remaining pieces.
The Habanero Chilli Glaze
3 tbsp Habanero Hot Honey
2 tbsp Crispy Chilli Oil
Fish sauce, to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Whisk everything together in a bowl wide enough to toss the chicken in. Taste and balance - it should be sweet from the honey, warm and fragrant from the habanero, savoury and rounded from the fish sauce, and bright from the lime. The Crispy Chilli Oil brings both heat and crunch from the sediment, so make sure you stir it up from the bottom before you measure. If you’re finding it too spicy, please add plain honey to taste until you find your perfect balance.
While the last batch of chicken is still hot off the fryer, add it to the bowl and toss until every piece is coated. Let it rest for two minutes - the glaze will tighten up slightly and the crust will hold.
The Buttermilk Dressing
½ cup buttermilk
2 tbsp sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chives, finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together and season generously. It should be tangy, creamy and fairly pourable - not thick like a dip. Make this ahead and chill it; it gets better as the chives infuse.
The Asian Herb Salad
2 bunches coriander, leaves and fine stems picked
1 bunch Vietnamese mint
1 bunch Thai basil
1 bunch chives, cut into 4cm batons
2 spring onions, very finely sliced
1 tbsp pickled shallots
2 tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
Juice of 2 limes
Combine everything except the lime juice and peanuts. Dress with lime right before serving and toss through the peanuts at the last second so they stay crunchy.
To Plate
This is the part that matters as much as the cooking.
Spoon the buttermilk dressing onto the base of your serving platter and spread it out with the back of the spoon - this is your canvas. Stack the glazed chicken thighs in the middle, loosely and with some height, so you can see the texture on each piece. Scatter the herb salad over and around the chicken. And then - slowly, deliberately - drizzle whatever glaze is left in the bowl over the whole thing.
Serve immediately.
What to Do With Leftovers (If You Have Any)
The chicken reheats well in an air fryer at 180°C for about five minutes - it won't be quite as crisp as fresh but it comes back close. The herb salad is best made fresh each time. The buttermilk dressing keeps in the fridge for three days and is excellent on pretty much everything else you might put in front of it.