The Chefs column highlights our local culinary masters. They share a recipe that has a lot of meaning to them and thankfully, how to make it. (Well at least most of it, sometimes secrets must remain that.) This month’s chefs are Lexy & Adam She of She Craft Co.

BACKGROUND
She Craft Co. is a food concept and restaurant whose heart and start is complicatedly simple. It’s the lives of two people mixed up into food. Lexy, a Southern girl with an amazing palate and adventurous culinary vision that breaks the mold of traditional concepts – meets Adam She, self-professed, Chinese Georgia boy who grew up in Asian restaurants owned by his parents, Jason and Becky She. Add on Lexy’s love for Korean flavors (nurtured by her Korean sister-in-law ) and you have a menu that reflects our lives. We call it Asian Confusion 🙂

We built She Craft Co. out by hand (with a lot of help of our church, family and friends) and poured our passion into original, made from scratch recipes. It’s a Southern American Asian fusion, served in a warm and loving atmosphere. Our hope is to build community around everyone’s favorite pastime – eating!

STORY

The Korean Crispy Chicken Sandwich perfectly sums up how we cook and who we are. Basically, take one of your favorite Southern American foods (Buttermilk marinated fried chicken) and fuse it together with some Asian fun (our Spicy Korean sauce) top it with Ginger Ranch Slaw on the best bun we think there is (a Martin’s potato bun). We played around with the recipe for this sandwich and how to get the chicken just right in our home kitchen.

Ingredients
Sandwich
Boneless skinless breasts
Potato buns
Buttermilk (whole fat preferred)
All purpose flour
Spice dust (see below)
Peanut oil
Slaw
Cabbage, julienned (purple or green)
Homemade ranch
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1 tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
2 tbsp fresh chives
Spices to taste: salt, paprika, white pepper`
*use a few tbsp buttermilk to thin to desired consistency.
Drizzle
We use our own Spicy Korean sauce (a She Craft Co secret). Substitute your favorite BBQ or buffalo sauce.

Chicken breast prep
Carefully trim off any excess fat and tendons

Cut breast to desired size (1/2” thick and similar in diameter to the bun you plan to use)

Pound with meat tenderizer. Our ideal thickness after pounding is 1/3” thick and slightly larger than the bun.

Brine prepped chicken for 12 – 24 hours in buttermilk and mix. Our She Craft Co. blend is top secret 🙂 but you can use 1 tbsp of spices to 4 – 6 cups of buttermilk. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Tony Chachere’s (for some heat) or a mix of your own: salt, pepper, paprika, onion or garlic powder and a touch of cayenne.

Why brine in buttermilk? Buttermilk will add a tangy flavor and keep the meat tender and juicy when fried.

Slaw
Slice cabbage extra thin by hand or use a mandoline and mix with your homemade ranch. Store in fridge.

Next step is the breading. Double coating is a must for a super crunchy crust. This is key!

Put 3 – 4 cups of all-purpose flour in a shallow container. Pull your chicken breasts straight from the buttermilk and cover lightly once in flour. Then re-dip in the buttermilk. Now back to the flour for the second (and final) time. This time, press flour onto the chicken and try to build a nice crust. Sprinkle a little of your reserved seasoning on the chicken and set aside to make sure your oil is at temp.

We fry using peanut oil. It keeps its integrity at a high temp and imparts a yummy flavor and unique crisp. First, fill a wide cast iron/dutch oven or large pot with 3” of oil. Attach a deep frying thermometer to the side of the pot and work to get oil to 350º. When chicken is frying, keeping a temp around 300 is great.

Once oil is at temp carefully lower breaded breast pieces into the oil. Fry for about 5 minutes or until a thermometer temps the thickest part of the breast to 170º. Serve immediately.

*A smart tip for frying ahead (place a cookie rack onto of a sheet pan and set in the oven on a low temp (150-200) ready to go. You can put your fried foods here and keep them crispy and hot longer before serving.

Toast your bun, drizzle with your favorite sauce and top with a 1/4 cup of your cabbage slaw.