Herbed Fried Chicken – KFC Style? Maybe

As an electronics engineer, part of Jan’s work involves repairing a variety of devices, including computers. It was while working on an officemate’s computer that he found a document with a recipe for “KFC Style Chicken”.

For us food enthusiasts, it was like unearthing a major archeological find. But of course, any source that claims to hold the secrets to KFC’s tasty chicken should be regarded with a fair bit of skepticism. Rumor has it that only a select few know the exact ingredients. One story suggests that the original recipe is hidden in a vault and only three employees know the list by heart.

Well, that is a story that may or may not be true. In any case, the internet is now chock full of ingredient lists that claim to be the real thing. This might be one of them.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. ground oregano
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. onion salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. msg
2 cups flour (approx.)
Cooking oil

Procedure:

1. Cut chicken into small pieces.

2. Mix the eleven herbs and spices and the flour.

3. Heat enough oil to submerge the chicken.

4. Deep fry chicken under medium heat until brown.

Wife’s Verdict:

This sure is very tasty, finger lickin’ good chicken but it doesn’t taste exactly like the original recipe we’re used to. Also, the cooked pieces looked more flat than what we normally get in KFC. Jan and I did a post meal analysis and concluded that we probably missed some extra ingredient outside of the herbs and spices. Eggs perhaps?

In any case, I’m never going to use Ajinomoto breading mix again now that we have this recipe. 

Jan’s Quip: “This should impress my wife.”