I'm guessing that the chicken is cooking very quickly and the proteins are shrinking away from the bone. As long as the meat gets up to temperature inside you're NOT really doing anything wrong, it's just cosmetic. To make a prettier version I'd recommend looking for a recipe that has a similar batter/dredge to the one you enjoy BUT fries the chicken twice. The first fry is at a lower temperature which will cook the chicken slower at first and prevent the shrinking. You might also consider getting a new frying thermometer or checking to see if the one you have is registering correctly.
If you've got time for a project, I've made fried chicken using Anthony Bourdain's Korean Fried Chicken Recipe from his newest book Appetites: A Cookbook. It is a VERY long process (includes freezing overnight after the first fry) but SO good. I made half the chicken w/o any sauce and it was just as good.
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If you've got time for a project, I've made fried chicken using Anthony Bourdain's Korean Fried Chicken Recipe from his newest book Appetites: A Cookbook. It is a VERY long process (includes freezing overnight after the first fry) but SO good. I made half the chicken w/o any sauce and it was just as good.