You can get it in Seattle at Sisters and Brothers, a bar and restaurant at the end of the Boeing Field runway. We were out on Saturday morning looking for a light lunch (ha) and thought we'd give it a try.
I first heard about hot chicken from my friend Julie, who travels frequently to Nashville. There was also an article in the New Yorker recently about the most famous hot chicken outlet in the world: Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, run by generations of the Jeffries family since the 1930's. People come from all over the world and stand in long lines, hoping to get some.
Folks, we all know fried chicken is not health food, but this is over the top. There are different variations, but typically Nashville-style hot chicken "spice paste" has only two key ingredients: lard and cayenne pepper, mixed together, three parts pepper to one part lard and heated until they form a thick sauce.
The paste is slathered on the freshly fried chicken and melts right in. The heat level is controlled by reducing or increasing the amount of paste applied. That's it, pretty simple really, but of course frying the chicken perfectly is an art.
We ordered medium, the level recommended for sissy Seattle palates, and boy, it was still plenty hot. Not just the sauce, but also the meat, fresh out of the boiling oil. The chicken meal comes with a side, a few pickles and a slice of bread to soak up the juices and help tame it down. (I don't usually eat white bread, but somehow mine disappeared.)
People were eating great mounds of chicken for brunch, some on top of waffles! I guess we're lightweights, because we managed one huge wing, and a few bites of breast.
There was plenty to take home. I made a delicious Asian chopped salad for dinner AND lunch the next day. Quality fried chicken is just as good cold, maybe even better. So our little lunch out turned into quite a culinary adventure.
Maybe a once-a-year treat?
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