Keto Fried Chicken
I always have associated fried chicken as an Asian thing. Although a lot of “the south” in the US also have claimed fried chicken as their own. Maybe it’s universally liked (at least those who like to eat chicken!).
In terms of cuts I definitely have a preference for the thigh cutlet and the mid wing. Perfect for a keto diet (as it’s higher in fat than a breast fillet). And although a normal grilled piece of chicken is delicious or white cut chicken is scrumptious, I do like the crunch of a piece of fried chicken.
Plain flour or corn flour are the usual go-tos for fried chicken but obviously they are high in carbs! For a keto diet the best to use is gluten flour. As in vital wheat gluten. Glutards need not apply. (ie if you are a coeliac or have a gluten intolerance please do not even think about using it!) You can use almond flour or coconut flour but I haven’t found the results as crunchy and have since just used gluten flour for the coating.
What is Gluten Flour?
Gluten flour is flour with just the protein (gluten) part left. In the US it’s sold as “vital wheat gluten” and I’ve found finding recipes with this hard unless you use it as that term (vital wheat gluten.) There are too many gluten-free recipes that pop up to find what you want.
If you want crispy chicken (or fish or anything else that you want to use flour to coat with) then gluten flour or vital wheat gluten may just be your answer.
Here are some pictures I have of my fried chicken with gluten flour.
Keto Fried Chicken is simple
I haven’t put together a recipe for this yet as it’s so simple.
Clean chicken, season chicken (soy sauce and some chilli powder does wonders!), and coat it with gluten flour. Or use a seasoning bag of gluten flour (where you put the seasoning in with the flour and put the chicken in the bag and shake so the chicken piece is well coated).
Spray the chicken with avocado oil (or any other oil/fat) and then put the air fryer on 200 degrees C (that’s close to 400 degrees F) and cook it for 30 + minutes.
Simple!
I love it with some asian greens like bok choy as you can tell in the main pic, but have it with whatever keto friendly veges you want.
Asian Keto Fried Chicken Seasoning suggestions
Here are some options to mix and match with. I tend to marinate with at least a bit of soy sauce but the rest is up to what you feel like!
Marinade options:
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- shallots/spring onions
- grated ginger
- minced garlic
- fresh chillies
- coriander / cilantro
- black vinegar
- chicken seasoning
Marinade and/or coating options:
- Chilli powder
- Garlic powder
- Ginger powder
- Szechuan pepper
- White pepper
- Salt and pepper mix
- Wasabi powder
- Cumin powder
- Curry powder
- Turmeric powder
- Five spice
- Salt
- Pepper
Taiwanese Fried Chicken flavours
- five spice powder
- white pepper
- salt
- garlic
P.S. I understand KFC’s recipe can be found on Wikipedia.