Fried chicken & waffle is a brunch dish that everyone likes. It’s one of the perfect southern comfort foods for either brunch or even dinner. It’s not one of your whip-up-in-a-jiffy brunch dishes, you need to let your chicken marinate overnight in a buttermilk-brine. This step will make your chicken taste finger-licking good. Here we made some changes to the traditional southern fried chicken. Instead of using chicken, we are using cornish hen. Cornish hen is very lean and we prefer the taste of it better than regular chicken.
Let’s Get Frying
Lately, we have been experimenting a lot with Szechuan peppers, it has a very unique flavor profile. We not only used this to flavor the Cornish hen but we also flavored the maple syrup with it. That citrusy, tingling & numbing sensation with the sweetness of maple syrup will completely surprise you.
You must let the cornish hen marinate in a very well seasoned buttermilk-brine, it’ll tenderize the meat, and your fried Cornish hen will be nice and juicy inside. Also, make sure that the flour you use for breading is well seasoned too, and to get that crispy crust that everybody loves, we added some panko breadcrumbs. We wanted to make sure that our fried cornish hen has a crispy crust yet thin enough to break through easily with a fork and knife.
Now, you have to have some quality waffles to go along with delicious fried cornish hen. We personally love thick and fluffy Belgian Waffles. If you haven’t already, then please check out our Belgian Waffle recipe on our blog post. All you need to do on a Friday or Saturday night is to marinate the cornish hen, prep the Belgian waffle batter and you’ll have a great brunch the next day, frying cornish hen will take about 15 to 18 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your waffle iron and start making waffles. Serve them up with a drizzle of Szechuan maple syrup. Enjoy…!!!
Szechuan Cornish Hen & Waffle
Ingredients
- 1 Cornish Hen
- 2 Cups Butter Milk
- 3 Tsp Salt
- 1 & 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper Ground
- 1 & 1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 Tsp Szechuan Pepper Ground
- 1 & 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
- Vegetable Oil For Frying
Szechuan Syrup
- 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 Tsp Szechuan Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Orange Juice
Instructions
- Clean bird, pat dry, and cut into four pieces or per your liking.
- In a medium to large bowl add the buttermilk, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp of Szechuan pepper, and smoked paprika stir all ingredients until well combined.
- Add the pieces of the hen to the mixture, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil then refrigerate overnight or at least an hour or two before cooking. Half an hour before cooking remove it from the fridge to bring to room temperature.
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan (enough to deep fry)
- While waiting for the oil to be ready add the flour, 1 tsp Szechuan pepper, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp salt in a bowl then mix well. Start coating the pieces of hen with the mixture and fry until golden brown.
- Whisk the Szechuan pepper, orange juice, and Maple syrup to serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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