Beer & Vodka Batter Chicken Nuggets

As we learn from Kenji Lopez in The Food Lab, adding the beer and alcohol to the batter does a couple important things. First, by using beer (or soda water) instead of water it will help leaven the batter creating a more open texture once the bubbles of carbon dioxide expand when fried. Also for beer specifically, it contains extra flavor compounds and carbohydrates that aid in the browning of our nugget. What about the vodka you may ask?

The vodka in the batter dehydrates quicker than water so it will start browning and crisping faster. More importantly Kenji says, replacing alcohol in the batter will limit gluten development. While great for bread doughs, if you have too much gluten development for a batter you end up with hard and tough crust instead of one that is light and crisp.

Okay now that we have the rationale for imbibing in chicken nugget form, let's make these tasty numbers, also I'll show you how to make a zippy horseradish honey mustard dipping sauce as well.

Ground Chicken

454 g (about 4) boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs
5 g Salt
3 g MSG (optional)

Beer & Vodka Batter

150 g Flour (Separated 100 g, 50 g)
25 g Corn Starch
5 g Baking Powder
5 g Salt
1 g Cayenne Pepper
1 g Garlic Powder
1 g Smoked Paprika
8 oz Beer (Any lighter beer will work, I used an IPA)
1.5 oz Vodka
Oil to deep fry (Preferably peanut oil)

Horseradish Honey Mustard

1 part Honey
2 parts Dijon Mustard
2 parts Mayonnaise
1 part Horseradish

METHOD

Slice the boneless, skinless chicken things into thin slivers. Then cut across the slivers into small cubes. Now continuously rock chop the chicken for about 3 minutes until it starts to resemble a rough ground meat. Sprinkle over the salt, and MSG and continuing chopping for another minute. Now massage and mix the ground chicken with your hands for about a minute. This process helps bind the chicken. Lay wax paper over a baking sheet and form the ground chicken into nugget shapes, I got about 18. Set aside in the fridge while we prepare the batter and start heating the oil.
At the stove, add peanut oil to a wok over medium low heat.
Add 100 grams of the flour to a bowl with the corn starch, baking powder, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Mix to combine. Add the beer and vodka to a separate bowl. Add the other 50 grams of flour to a separate bowl. Toss the chicken nuggets in the plain flour until evenly coated and transfer to a wire rack set on a baking sheet.
Slowly pour the beer mixture into the flour mixture, whisking just until the batter has formed a thinnish batter, kind of between a crepe and pancake batter. Be careful not to over mix, it's okay if there are a few small lumps of flour in the batter.
Set up the fry station. On left set the floured chicken nuggets and the bowl of batter. In the middle, the wok with hot oil and on the right set another wire rack over a baking sheet with a paper towel on half. Bring the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, testing with a thermometer. We are ready to fry.
Transfer the flour chicken nuggets to the batter, turning them to coat. Pick up a nugget and allow the excess batter to drip off. Gently lower the nugget into the 350 degree oil to reduce splashing. Work in small batches of 5 or 6, repeat until all chicken nuggets are in the oil. Fry until the chicken nuggets are golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. Check the internal temperature is at least 160 F before
Transfer the fried nuggets to the paper towel and immediately give them a sprinkle of salt. Dab the excess oil on both sides and move the nuggets down off the paper towel.
Dip in the honey mustard or your desired sauce and enjoy!

Place on the paper towel first to absorb excess oil, then move to the wire rack.

They are great on their own, but a dipping sauce never hurts too!

Gorgeous crisp crust with the white meat interior (and a little dark meat too).