McChicken-Style Crispy Chicken Burger at Home

Ingredients

Home-kitchen amounts for 2 — standard home-cooking quantities for this dish, not the chain’s recipe (chains do not publish theirs). Difficulty: Medium.

• 500 g ground chicken (thigh meat if you can get it — it stays juicier)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ½ tsp fine salt
• ½ tsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp granulated chicken bouillon (such as Knorr)
• 1 cup (150 g) plain flour
• ½ cup (75 g) cornflour
• 1 cup cold club soda (or very cold water)
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 soft white hamburger buns
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 cup finely shredded iceberg lettuce

Method

1. Mix the ground chicken with the garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, salt, sugar and bouillon. Divide into 2 thin patties, wider than the buns, and freeze 30 minutes so they hold their shape.
2. Whisk the flour, cornflour and a pinch of salt together. Spoon half into a shallow bowl for dredging; whisk the cold club soda into the rest until it looks like thin cream.
3. Dredge each cold patty in the dry flour, then dip in the batter, letting the excess drip off.
4. Fry in oil at 175°C for 3–4 minutes per side until deep golden and 75°C in the centre. Drain on a rack.
5. Toast the buns, spread with mayonnaise, add a pile of shredded iceberg, then the hot patty. Tip: the batter must be cold and thin — warm or thick batter goes doughy instead of crisp, and thigh meat beats breast here because it stays juicy after frying.