Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe

Like a lot of folks, every time I got to Nashville, I make it a point to stop by Prince's Hot Chicken and pick up a sack of their famous hot fried chicken to bring home!  I always wanted to know how to make it at home since I can't drive to Nashville every week to get some!

I had read on the internet that some who claim to know how to make it, said the ingredients were simple and it was easy....but they weren't talking!

I tried infusing the breading of the chicken with cayenne, black and white pepper, and although it heated the chicken up, it wasn't quite the same.

Then I read where the "heat" actually came from a "pepper paste," and THAT turned out to be the secret!  The first time I tried it....yep....that's it.  Sooooo, here's my recipe for Nashville style Hot Chicken.

First of all, you prepare the fried chicken, as you normally would.  That means soaking it overnight in buttermilk, then breading it with flour and frying it as usual.

The secret is the pepper paste.  Here's the recipe I use for it:  Equal parts lard, and cayenne pepper, along with 1/3 part salt, and a very small amount of minced or powdered garlic.

I heat this for a few seconds in the microwave to melt the lard, and then stir it together to form a thick paste.

When the chicken comes out of the frying pan, the paste is applied by brushing it on, or by spooning it on and rubbed in by hand (with gloves on...).

The amount of heat for the chicken can be altered by simply putting more on, or by using more pepper and less lard for the paste.

To complete the dish, serve on a piece of white bread, with pickles stuck into the chicken with a toothpick!

And there you have it!  Yum Yum!!!