Mother's Batter-Fried Chicken

My best memories of eating my mother's batter-fried chicken are connected to summer family picnics at Lake Sidney Lanier, Georgia's largest dam-controlled lake.

Daddy would park next to the dam and us kids would jump out, barefoot, and find a shady spot to sit under and chow down.

I made mother's chicken today for an event tomorrow, and the aroma of freshly fried chicken wafting through my kitchen was irresistible. As I sat down to test a piece, the memories came flooding back.

The feeling of soft grass under my feet as we laid out the checkered picnic blanket.

The rough texture of the woven basket holding the chicken.

The welcome coolness of the communal glass jug of ice-water.

The smoothness of the avocado green melamine plates.

Finally, the moment I'd been waiting too long for came: plucking that first crispy piece of fried chicken from the basket.

Mother's not-so secret ingredient for making her chicken extra crispy was baking powder. She put it in the batter, which also contained salt. Both salt and baking powder draw moisture to the surface, where it can evaporate. Using them together amplifies this effect, resulting in extra-crispiness.

I say "not-so-secret" because including baking powder in the batter was a common practice back in the day. The reason mother used it was because the recipe she knew by heart and adapted from a Wesson Oil newspaper ad listed the ingredient.

Baking powder is not as commonly used today.

Why the shift?

Baking powder was a readily available and reliable leavening agent in mother's day. Now, other factors such as a well seasoned flour coating, proper temperature control, and using cornstarch or rice flour instead of baking powder reportedly produces equally crunchy results.

I wouldn't know.

What about you? If your favorite fried chicken recipe has a secret ingredient, please share it and, since I love kitchen stories, please share the story that goes with it, too.

Recipe