Popeyes taught me the secret to making the crispiest fried chicken ever
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We’ve seen an influx of American fast food chains in the UK of late, but one of the first to arrive on the scene was Popeyes. The Louisiana fried chicken joint set up shop in London’s Westfield in 2021, and has since opened 49 other restaurants nationwide – with more to come.
![[Popularity Of Fast Food Chicken Helps Drive Nationwide Chicken Shortages And Price Increases]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1316692250.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It’s best known for its extra crispy ‘shatter crunch’ fried chicken and the Chicken Sandwich that broke the internet when it first launched in the US in 2019. I’ve tried many items from the Popeyes menu items during my time at Metro – from the cajun breakfast, to the hot honey sandwich and recent festive menu launch – and it’s safe to say I’m a big fan. (And so is Beyoncé, in case you needed any more convincing. So much so, that she’s even thought to have served Popeyes at her wedding…).
![[Chicken sausage breakfast roll from Popeyes]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_7639-1dd5.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
While I’ve eaten the food, I didn’t really know much about how it was made, so when the chain offered me the chance to go behind the scenes at their UK headquarters in Ealing Broadway, I jumped at the opportunity to uncover their secrets. After donning an apron, hair net and cap, Dave Hoskins, head of food at Popeyes UK, gave me a tour of the restaurant’s kitchen, and even let me have a go at breading some chicken breasts, teaching me exactly how the shatter crunch is created.
I’m sorry to say I wasn’t allowed to film in the kitchen, or take photos, but I can tell you that the secret to the perfect crunch is all to do with the batter and the aeration of the flour. The team starts by taking a marinated chicken breast, and ‘opening it up’ a little bit, stretching it to give a larger surface area, before applying some flour to it and ‘knuckling’ the meat.
