For Crunchier Fried Foods, Add Cornflakes To The Batter

When you take that first bite into a piece of golden fried chicken, you're expecting a satisfying crunch. And while that crispy coating can be made with breadcrumbs, crackers, or a flour and cornstarch combo, try adding cornflakes to the mix for the crunchiest batter ever. The other ingredients mentioned may give you the bite you're looking for, but cornflakes stand out from the rest. They're dried and toasted before they make it into your cereal box, so they already have plenty of crispiness — and unlike breadcrumbs or flour, they come in large flakes so each bite results in a bigger crunch.

All you have to do to achieve a mouthwatering golden crust is add cornflakes to your fried chicken batter. This doesn't just have to apply to poultry, however — anything you're frying up in a batter, whether it's fish, tofu, or even green tomatoes, can benefit from a dose of the breakfast cereal. You'll want to crush your flakes up, of course, since they're too large as-is to properly incorporate into a batter — but do so lightly, since you still want all that crunchy goodness to remain intact.

To get started making the crunchiest fried food ever, first whip up your batter. The mixture for a typical crispy cornflake chicken recipe includes buttermilk, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. But feel free to vary your ingredients. You could incorporate ranch seasoning, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, chili powder, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, or eggs. Then get your cornflakes into the necessary size by placing them in a sealed plastic bag and gently crushing them with a rolling pin. As an alternative, you can pulverize them in a food processor (but for the best results don't turn them to dust), or just use your hands and squeeze them to bits.

Once you pour the crushed cornflakes into your batter, all you have to do is dredge your chicken through it and get to frying. But you can also use this wet mixture as the base for a varied second crispy coating, perhaps with panko bread crumbs or crackers. As long as your tenders are coated in your batter, they should still have enough stickiness to cling to more crispy ingredients. Alternatively, you can separate the dry and wet ingredients if you'd prefer. In that case, keep your cereal and batter separate, and dip your chicken into the wet mixture followed by the cornflakes. As long as you have the key ingredient, you'll get golden bites with maximum crispiness.