A classic Nashville chicken sandwich is fiery and packed full of pickles. This is the same, but we're using everyone's favourite pantry item, Chilli Crisp, turning the Tennessee classic into a Japanese Sando!
Start with preparing the pickles and white cabbage salad. For the pickles, mix all the ingredients for the brine together, before adding the sliced cucumbers and allowing them to lightly pickle in the fridge, until ready to serve.
For the white cabbage salad, start by shredding the white cabbage thinly, before massaging the ingredients for the dressing. Taste for acid, sugar and salt - this salad should be balanced but bright, to counter the richness and spice of the chicken.
For our chicken, take chicken breasts and tenderise them, either with a tenderising hammer, our a small frying pan. Whatever works for you!
Mix together all the dry ingredients for the dredge (flour and spices) and split this into two bowls. In one, add the water, to make a light batter that coast the breasts evenly. Now cover the wet dredged breast in our dry flour and spice mix, before frying in vegetable oil, at 170°c, for 7-12 minutes, depending on the side and thickness of the chicken. The internal temperature should reach 74°c.
Once cooked allow to rest for a couple of minutes, whilst preparing the chilli crisp dipping oil. Pour some chilli crisp in a heatproof bowl, and add a ladle of our hot cooking oil to it. Dip our chicken breasts in the hot oil, and immediately drain and sprinkle with some reserved spice mix.
Now to build this beauty! Start with some good bread, we're using Japanese milk bread. Spread on some kewpie mayo, followed by our cabbage salad, then our crispy chicken breast. Add the pickles, and close up the sandwich... and enjoy!
