I have to warn any of you that don’t like spicy food to click the back button right now. Trust me, you don’t want to be here. This recipe isn’t for the faint of heart. In my never ending quest to discover delicious yet stupidly spicy food, I have decided to offer up my take on a spicy chicken sandwich. Spicy being the keyword. And as much as I like blazing buffalo sauce (sorry to everyone that likes it), I won’t be using it for this recipe.
Instead, I will be utilizing a special concoction of mine that consists of vinegar, chili paste, Tabasco sauce, and sanaam peppers. This definitely isn’t Indian food, but sanaam peppers are one of my favorite peppers and I think they lend a great taste to this dish. I can already feel my nostrils burning. Just make sure you don’t eat this sauce by itself. Luckily, the smokey habanero mayo is perfect for toning down the tanginess of this sauce.
Oh and make sure you check out the link at the end to find out how to make yourself some awesome thick cut steak fries to go along with your insanely hot chicken sandwich. They’re totally worth the time it takes, because you’ll end up with fries that are crispy on the outside but soft and delicious on the inside. Seriously, my nostrils are burning and my mouth is watering just thinking about all this food.
Alright enough babbling on my part, let me just say that I also like habanero peppers, and I will be incorporating them into a smoky mayonnaise spread. But before you go cutting into a one of these peppers, let me warn you.
They are HOT! I mean really hot. If you intend on cutting up fresh habanero peppers, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wear some rubber gloves. Your fingers might start burning if you don’t. And make absolutely sure that if you are working with habaneros, you don’t rub one or both of your eyes until you have thoroughly washed your hands or removed your gloves. And I would still recommend washing your hands even if you choose to wear gloves, and be prepared for your lips to burn well after you are finished eating this sandwich.
I really have to talk about the chicken though, because there are some important things to consider if you plan on having a tender and moist piece of chicken for your sandwich. Which I hope you do. First and foremost, the chicken needs to be fully thawed. I prefer skinless chicken breasts which have been trimmed of excess fat.
Next, if you have the time, let the chicken soak fully submerged in buttermilk for a bare minimum of an hour. However, twenty-four hours is ideal. Chicken is better and more tender when soaked in lactic acid (produced by lactobacilli in buttermilk and also yogurt). If you don’t have any buttermilk or yogurt on hand, you can soak it in a sort of fake buttermilk by adding 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to every cup of regular milk you use. Feel free to add some salt and pepper or even some sriracha sauce if you want.
I tend to stay away from the sriracha sauce though, because it seems like the big thing right now and everyone seems to be using it in everything these days. It’s up to you whether or not you cut the chicken breast in quarters prior to soaking it in buttermilk. If you want to leave the chicken breast whole, that’s fine but it will take longer to cook and it will be a lot of meat for one sandwich. Which is not necessarily a bad thing for some people.
If you like spicy food, this chicken will definitely do the trick.
After the chicken has spent enough time in the buttermilk, it’s time to dredge it in a mixture of flour, cayenne pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Don’t be stingy here, because it’s hard to over season the mixture when it comes to frying chicken. For some reason, deep frying tends to really tone down the spiciness of the mixture.
The easiest way to do this with the least amount of clean up is to combine the chicken and the flour mixture into a plastic bag such as a gallon size zip-lock bag and shake it up until the chicken is evenly coated and there aren’t any messy lumps. Some people prefer to use regular plastic bags and simply puff into the bag to make it expand, then give it a quick spin before shaking everything around.
But make sure you don’t leave the coated chicken in the bag too long. I know from first hand experience. The mixture will start to clump up and will fall off the chicken before being fried, which sort of ruins much of the dish. The crunchiness of the coating on the chicken provides extra texture for the sandwich.
Take my advice and get your oil heated up to around 325° F (165° C) before coating the chicken with the flour mixture. I see a lot of recipe’s saying to heat the oil to 350° F (175° C) but to me, that is too hot. You want to make sure the middle of the chicken is done while insuring the outside isn’t burned. This is especially true if you are cooking a large piece of chicken.
If you follow the advice above, you should have no problem frying up some juicy in the middle, crispy on the outside, deliciously spicy chicken. Which of course will get tossed with the previously mentioned sanaam sauce. Feel free to taste the chicken at this time. It shouldn’t be too spicy…
Spread the smokey habanero mayonnaise on both halves of a telera roll. It’s up to you how much mayo you use, but I would recommend using just enough to fully cover each side. It is pretty potent stuff.
Place one of the pieces of chicken on the bottom half of the roll and top with tomatoes and romaine lettuce. Pop the top piece on and enjoy. But don’t forget your fries. They might come in handy if you find you need to take a break from the sandwich.
And as always, let me know what you think about this dish. Even if it’s not so good, any feedback is better than no feedback at all. And don’t forget the fries. Here’s the link: Streak fries
Red-Hot Lava Chicken Sandwich With Smoky Habanero Mayonnaise
By: Semiserious Chefs
Serves: 2 – 4
Ingredients:
Smokey Habanero Mayonnaise:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar (regular granulated sugar doesn’t incorporate well)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried habanero pepper
Directions:
Smokey Habanero Mayonnaise:
- First you will need to use a food processor to grind the dried habanero pepper down into powdered form. It comes out to roughly one dried habanero for each 1/2 teaspoon.
- Simply combine the 5 ingredients in a small bowl and mix until blended.
Ingredients:
Spicy Fried Chicken:
- 1 large chicken breast (preferably soaked in buttermilk overnight, trimmed of excess fat, and either cut in half or quartered)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
Directions:
Spicy Fried Chicken:
- Begin by heating your frying oil over medium heat. This will give us time to prepare the flour mixture that we will be dredging the chicken in. Make sure it doesn’t go too much past 325° F (165° C) or you might burn the outside without fully cooking the inside.
- While the oil is heating, grab a gallon size zip-lock back and add all of the dry ingredients.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk if you hopefully chose to soak them, and drop them in the bag with the spicy flour mixture.
- Seal the bag, making sure there is extra air in it. Shake it up until all of the chicken is adequately covered. Try not to leave the chicken in the bag longer than you have to though.
- Once the oil has reached the correct temperature, carefully add the covered chicken pieces to the oil with a pair of long tongs.
- Cook the chicken for roughly 5 -6 minutes. I am basing this off of a chicken breast that has been cut into quarters. The cooking time will change based on the size of each piece, so adjust the cooking time as needed. Just make sure it is white throughout and no pink in the middle and you will be good to go.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove and let drain on paper towels.
Ingredients:
Sanaam Pepper Sauce:
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried sanaam peppers
- Tabasco sauce (just add about 10 dashes)
Directions:
Sanaam Pepper Sauce:
- Just like with the dried habanero peppers, we will be using a food processor to grind the dried sanaam peppers down into a powdered form.
- Combine all 5 ingredients in a small saucepan prior to heating (if you add cornstarch to a hot liquid, it will clump up and fail to do its job). Mix well with a spatula.
- Turn heat to medium and continue to mix until the sauce thickens.
Ingredients:
Red-Hot Lava Chicken Sandwich With Smoky Habanero Mayonnaise:
- Smoky Habanero Mayonnaise
- Spicy Fried Chicken
- Sanaam Pepper Sauce
- 2 – 4 telera rolls (I just happen to really like these)
- Romaine lettuce
- Tomato
- Pepper jack cheese (optional)
Directions:
Red-Hot Lava Chicken Sandwich With Smoky Habanero Mayonnaise:
- If you have followed the directions in order from the top, you will be ready to throw this sandwich together.
- Cut the telera rolls in half and spread a thin layer of the smoky habanero mayonnaise on each side of them. Depending on how much chicken you have or plan on adding to each roll will determine how many rolls you need to cut.
- In a medium sized bowl, toss the spicy fried chicken in the sanaam pepper sauce until each piece is fully coated.
- Add the desired amount of chicken to the bottom half of each telera roll.
- Top with romaine lettuce and sliced tomatoes.
- You can also add some pepper jack cheese on top of the chicken before putting on the lettuce and tomato.
- Put the top on the roll and proceed to chow down.
- Remember, this sandwich packs some heat and don’t forget about the Steak fries. Here’s the link again: Streak fries
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