hot chicken

Although the components of the dish largely remain the same, the preparation of the dish can differ greatly. A pressure fryer or deep fryer can be used, although most restaurants serve a pan-fried dish. Nearly all hot chicken is marinated in buttermilk to impart flavor and to retain the meat's juices upon frying (sometimes in olive oil).{{Cite web |last=Oil |first=About Olive |title=Nashville Hot Chicken Made with Olive Oil |url=https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/nashville-hot-chicken-made-with-olive-oil |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=www.aboutoliveoil.org |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |title=Nashville Hot Chicken |url=https://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/2019/3/21/nashville-hot-chicken |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=SAM THE COOKING GUY |language=en-US}} Some preparations of hot chicken are breaded and fried after application of the spice paste; the more traditional method has the paste applied immediately after the chicken is removed from the fryer.

A typical Nashville-style hot chicken spice paste has two key ingredients: lard and cayenne pepper.{{Cite web |date=2017-04-29 |title="Nashville" Hot Chicken {{!}} Dixie Chik Cooks |url=https://www.dixiechikcooks.com/nashville-hot-chicken/ |access-date=2022-07-15 |language=en-US}}{{unreliable source|date=December 2022}}{{Cite web |title=The secret to making Nashville hot chicken is in the oil |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/secret-making-nashville-hot-chicken-170040768.html |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=www.yahoo.com |language=en-US}} The two are mixed together, three parts pepper to one part lard, and heated until they form a thick sauce. Some restaurants vary the composition of the paste, adding sugar, garlic, or additional hot sauce. The paste is applied to the fried chicken by the server using a spoon and latex gloves; it is lightly squeezed into the finished chicken by hand.

The main variation to traditional hot chicken is in the application of the spice paste: before breading or after breading, and whether or not additional spices are applied. Recipes, cooking methods, and preparation steps for hot chicken are often closely guarded secrets, proprietary to the specific restaurant, so the appearance of the chicken may vary widely.{{Cite web |title=The History of Nashville Hot Chicken |url=https://www.wildebrands.com/pages/history-nashville-hot-chicken |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=Wilde Brands |language=en}}

File:Hot fish with bread and pickles.jpg

A variation of the hot chicken theme is hot fish, typically a breaded and fried whiting or catfish filet prepared using a similar cayenne paste as hot chicken, or using a cayenne powder blend sprinkled liberally over the filet. Some hot chicken restaurants also serve hot fish, but other restaurants may specialize in hot fish alone.{{cite web |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/11/hot-fish-from-boltons-in-nashville-tn-sandwiches.html |title=A Sandwich a Day: Hot Fish from Bolton's in Nashville |website=SeriousEats.com |first=Hawk |last=Krall |date=November 29, 2011 |access-date=May 16, 2013}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uha0mHZ-N8oC&pg=PA167 |title=500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late |chapter=Hot Fish Sandwich |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston |first1=Jane |last1=Stern |first2=Michael |last2=Stern |pages=167–169 |year=2009 |isbn=978-0547416441}}

Anecdotal evidence suggests that spicy fried chicken has been served in Nashville's African-American communities for generations.{{cite news |url=https://bittersoutherner.com/how-hot-chicken-really-happened |title=How Hot Chicken Really Happened |work=The Bitter Southerner |first=Rachel L. |last=Martin |date=July 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2018}} The dish may have been introduced as early as the 1930s; however, the current style of spice paste may only date back to the mid-1970s. It is generally accepted that the originator of hot chicken is the family of André Prince Jeffries, owner of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack.{{Cite magazine |date=2019-01-28 |title=The Family Business That Put Nashville Hot Chicken on the Map |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/04/the-family-business-that-put-nashville-hot-chicken-on-the-map |access-date=2022-07-15 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}} She has operated the restaurant since 1980; before that time, it was owned by her great-uncle, Thornton Prince III.{{Cite news |title=How A Cheating Man Gave Rise To Nashville's Hot Chicken Craze |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/28/471436355/how-a-cheating-husband-gave-rise-to-nashvilles-hot-chicken-craze |access-date=2022-07-15}} Jeffries says the development of hot chicken was an accident. Her great-uncle Thornton was purportedly a womanizer, and after a particularly late Saturday night out, his girlfriend at the time cooked him a fried chicken breakfast with extra pepper as revenge.{{Cite web |last=Alfs |first=Lizzy |title=The history of Nashville hot chicken: How a spurned lover burned millions of mouths |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/12/20/hot-chicken-nashville-history-princes/2205083002/ |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}} Instead, Thornton decided he liked it so much that, by the mid-1930s, he and his brothers had created their own recipe and opened the BBQ Chicken Shack café.{{cite press release |url=https://jbf-media.s3.amazonaws.com/archive/jbf-2013/pressreleases/JBF%20America's%20Classics%202013%20FINAL.pdf |title=James Beard Foundation Names 2013 America's Classics Award Honorees |publisher=James Beard Foundation |first1=Karlie |last1=Reitano |first2=Hannah |last2=Kasperzak |date=February 28, 2013 |access-date=May 10, 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91041024 |title=The Quest for Spicy Chicken |publisher=NPR |first=Audie |last=Cornish |newspaper=NPR.org |date=June 1, 2008 |access-date=October 16, 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://southernfoodways.org/documentary/oh/nashville_eats/andre_jeffries.shtml |title=André Prince Jeffries - Prince's Hot Chicken |website=Southernfoodways.com |access-date=October 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505033008/http://www.southernfoodways.org/documentary/oh/nashville_eats/andre_jeffries.shtml |archive-date=May 5, 2010}}

{{As of|2015}}, there are an estimated two dozen restaurants in the Nashville area that serve hot chicken, either as the focus or as part of a larger menu.{{cite news |url=https://www.foodrepublic.com/2015/08/10/we-took-a-nashville-chef-to-two-nyc-hot-chicken-restaurants-heres-what-we-found/ |title=We Took A Nashville Chef To Two NYC Hot Chicken Restaurants. Here's What We Found |work=Food Republic |first=George |last=Embiricos |date=August 10, 2015 |access-date=January 19, 2016}} Between 2001 and about 2006, country music stars Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw owned and operated a now-defunct hot chicken restaurant called "hotchickens.com".{{cite news |url=https://www.nashvillepost.com/home/article/20451729/hot-chicken-burned-kershaw |title=Hot Chicken Burned Kershaw |work=Nashville Post |first=Richard |last=Lawson |date=February 9, 2007 |access-date=October 16, 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nashvillepost.com/home/90s-country-stars-bankruptcy-deepens-as-he-runs-for-louisiana-lt-governor/article_28136efd-9ed1-5301-89cf-2f5151fafe3d.html |title='90s country star's bankruptcy deepens as he runs for Louisiana Lt. Governor |work=Nashville Post |first=Richard |last=Lawson |date=September 12, 2007 |accessdate=October 4, 2021}} Former mayor of Nashville Bill Purcell is a devoted fan, sponsoring the Music City Hot Chicken Festival and giving numerous interviews touting the dish. While in office, he frequently referred to his table at Prince's Hot Chicken as his "second office".{{cite web |url=http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/1755 |title=Prince's Hot Chicken Makes List of 100 Must-Try Southern Foods |work=Ezra Pound Cake |first=Rebecca |last=Crump |date=December 29, 2008 |access-date=October 16, 2009 |archive-date=March 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306012108/http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/1755 |url-status=dead }}{{unreliable source|date=December 2022}}{{cite web |url=http://www.musiccityhotchickenfestival.com/p/nashvilles-hot-chicken-story.html |title=Hot Chicken Story |website=Musiccityhotchickenfestival.com |access-date=May 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925064612/http://www.musiccityhotchickenfestival.com/p/nashvilles-hot-chicken-story.html |archive-date=September 25, 2013}}

Reflecting the growing popularity of the dish, many cities in the United States host restaurants that serve hot chicken or a variation thereof, including Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles,{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-nashville-hot-chicken-howlin-rays-20160421-story.html |title=There's finally a Nashville hot chicken restaurant in Los Angeles |series=Daily Dish |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Jenn |last=Harris |date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=May 25, 2016}} Birmingham, Louisville,{{cite news |url=https://www.wdrb.com/news/joella-s-hot-chicken-opens-fourth-location-in-months/article_c0108bcb-af43-5d92-a524-da7eed9a0dca.html |title=Joella's Hot Chicken opens fourth location in 8 months |publisher=WDRB |date=June 1, 2016 |access-date=November 4, 2016}} Ann Arbor,{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/15504/how-hot-chicken-became-nashvilles-signature-dish/ |title=How Hot Chicken Became Nashville's Signature Dish |magazine=Time |first=Jennifer |last=Justus |date=March 7, 2014 |access-date=January 19, 2016}} Columbus,{{cite news |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/how-to/growth-strategies/2016/04/joe-deloss-hot-chicken-takeover-disrupting.html |title=How one chicken restaurant is disrupting fast casual |work=Columbus Business First |first=Urquhart |last=Wood |date=April 7, 2016 |access-date=October 19, 2016}} Salt Lake City,{{cite news |url=https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/food/2018/04/26/salt-lake-citys-pretty-bird-restaurant-hits-a-sweet-spot-with-its-flavor-first-hot-chicken/ |title=Salt Lake City's Pretty Bird restaurant hits a sweet spot with its flavor-first hot chicken |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |last=Turner |first=Larrisa Beth |date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=October 2, 2019}} and Seattle.{{cite news |url=https://seattle.eater.com/2020/5/28/21273374/sisters-and-brothers-debuts-new-location-takeout-nashville-hot-chicken |title=Nashville Hot Chicken Favorite Sisters and Brothers Debuts New Location Next Week |work=Eater Seattle |first=Gabe |last=Guarente |date=May 28, 2020 |accessdate=October 4, 2021}} Hot chicken restaurant chains have also begun to appear. The appeal of hot chicken has spread beyond the United States, with restaurants in Seoul, South Korea,{{Cite web |url=https://zenkimchi.com/restaurants/nashville-hot-chicken-seoul/ |title=Nashville Hot Chicken in Seoul: Rocka Doodle vs. Brave Rooster's |website=ZenKimchi.com |last=Chung |first=James |date=December 5, 2018 |access-date=March 12, 2019}}{{unreliable source|date=December 2022}} and Melbourne, Australia, also serving this style of chicken.

In January 2016, fast food chain KFC began selling "Nashville Hot Chicken" and "Nashville Hot Tenders" in its U.S. restaurants.{{Cite web |last=Kavilanz |first=Parija |date=2016-01-15 |title=KFC's gets hot and spicy with its new Nashville Hot Chicken |url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/15/news/kfc-nashville-hot-chicken/index.html |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=CNNMoney}} This followed a trial run in the Pittsburgh area that it stated was "the most successful product testing in the company's recent history."{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/4182303/kfc-nashville-hot-chicken/ |title=KFC Introduces Nashville Hot Chicken |magazine=Time |first=Olivia B. |last=Waxman |date=January 17, 2016 |access-date=January 19, 2016}} Following this, KFC released "Nashville Hot Chicken" in its UK restaurants for a limited run between May 22 and June 18, 2017.{{cite news |url=https://www.popsugar.co.uk/food/KFC-Nashville-Hot-Chicken-Review-43562540 |title=KFC Ditches Its Original Recipe For a Little Spice |work=Popsugar |first=Lucy |last=Kenny |date=May 27, 2017 |access-date=May 28, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/food/805855/kfc-menu-uk-nashville-hot-chicken |title=KFC UK has adds Nashville Hot Chicken to its menu |work=Sunday Express |first=Katrina |last=Turrill |date=May 17, 2017 |access-date=May 28, 2017}} Other established chains, such as Buffalo Wild Wings, offer Nashville hot-chicken-style wings.

{{portal|Food}}

• List of chicken dishes
• List of regional dishes of the United States

{{Reflist|40em}}

• [https://www.nashvillescene.com/food-drink/article/13022673/bites-exclusive-winning-hot-chicken-recipe "Bites Exclusive: Winning Hot Chicken Recipe!"] by Nashville Scene

• [http://www.hot-chicken.com/ Nashville Hot Chicken Coalition]

{{Chicken dishes|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Chicken}}

Category:American chicken dishes

Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States

Category:Culture of Nashville, Tennessee

Category:Fried chicken

Category:Tennessee cuisine

Category:African-American cuisine