Spicy Honey Garlic Fried Chicken

Why This Spicy Honey Garlic Fried Chicken Works

During frying, the flour and cornstarch coat on the drumsticks dries out and hardens into a crisp shell. That shell holds the chicken in shape and keeps the hot oil on the outside instead of soaking in. At the same time, the egg and buttermilk under the flour glue the coating to the meat, so it doesn’t slide off when the chicken goes into the oil. Inside that crunchy layer, the meat steams and stays juicy while the outside browns.

As the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and sriracha heat up in the pan, the honey loosens and thins a bit, so it can slide over and cling to all the rough edges of the fried coating. Once the hot chicken is tossed in, the sauce grabs onto the crust instead of soaking straight into the meat. The outside stays crisp, but the bumps and cracks in the coating catch the sticky sauce, so every bite has both crunch and a sweet, spicy, garlicky layer on top.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the oil get too hot means the outside of the drumsticks browns fast while the inside stays undercooked. The crust looks done, but the meat near the bone can still be pink and soft instead of firm and fully cooked.

Crowding the pot during frying often drops the oil temperature too much. The coating then soaks up oil instead of crisping, so the chicken comes out heavy, greasy, and not very crunchy.

Skipping the second dip in the flour mixture leaves a thin, patchy coating. In the hot oil, those bare spots let moisture escape quickly, so the chicken skin can turn tough while the crust slides off in places.

Pouring the hot honey garlic sauce over the chicken too early and letting it sit a long time makes the crust soften. The sugar and moisture in the sauce slowly soak into the breading, so the chicken loses its crunch and turns a bit soggy.