Hello and welcome to The Big Night In. We talk recipes, restaurants, and the occasional bit of drivel. If somehow you have slipped into my house and are still not subscribed, don’t worry, we can fix that:
This Letter Includes:
a quick history
the ridiculous name for the new marina development
a Japanese study you won’t believe exists
the only fried chicken recipe you will ever need or want
pic’s: now doing squeezy bottles
Hello, I hope you all had a magnificent week.
In an interview for my postgrad I spoke about the comment section on tiktok. I hazarded that most users either scroll past a video or click on the comment section before it finishes. I wondered why companies hadn’t begun to capitalise on that behaviour. More eyeballs are seeing top comments than they are video captions, so why not start advertising in the comments? A week later, I saw the empire state building comment something witty on a popular video (that had nothing to do with New York). Suddenly, companies/brands were everywhere in the comment section, garnering thousands of reactions. Fantastic timing. Just today, a woman posted a polished video of her setting up for a dinner party and google were in the comments ‘would RSVP yes to this dinner Google Calendar invite every time!’ It’s genius, eyeballs without any obligation to pay a creator for said eyeballs. Just another reason I don’t aspire to influencer, but writer-and-chef-that-people-pay-directly-so-she-doesn’t-need-to-do-ads. Rapidly we’ve moved away (ish) from overt ads, ads that say BUY THIS THING!! LOOK AT THIS WONDEROUS MOP!! to - we’re not here to sell you anything, but remember our name and how human we are, we get you. As someone entering the world of copywriting, it’s probably possibly potentially hypocritical of me to judge this. I don’t judge it per se; people are out here doing their jobs. I don’t like it as a consumer, but I have autonomy, we have autonomy, and there are enough books and resources out there now that you don’t have to fall into a trap if you don’t want to (maybe).
My first go at tiktok and social media and all the stuff that hurts my eyes, rots my brain, and sells me something called ‘glazed donut nails’ was during covid. I had come to New Zealand for a month (4 years lol) to escape rona-ridden London. I started my blog as a way to teach myself how to cook and curb the boredom. I did a couple of videos, got a few views, then thought I should do a fakeaway (fake takeaway). In NZ we couldn’t get takeout which meant I couldn’t eat KFC. Nevermind that I hadn’t eaten KFC in a year, or that I rarely ordered takeout in general. Nothing could stop how feral I became for some bland mashed potatoes come the 3rd Auckland lockdown. Not to patronise you if you do know, but if you didn’t know, this is called perceived scarcity. When something is seen as scarce, it’s perceived value increases. The government tells me I can’t get soggy chicken and cold fries = desperate for soggy chicken and cold fries. So, I made my own version. The video blew up and I gained a few thousand followers overnight. Truthfully, I didn’t know how to handle my quick ascension to stardom; I started calling my brother Jeeves and asking mum to not look directly at me.
I have not changed the recipe in four years (I’ve included an optional hot honey/hot maple sauce but really, it’s stayed the same). It’s juicy, salty, very very crispy, and spicy enough so you’re mum can handle it but your boyfriend won’t complain about it ‘needing tabasco’. It’s my most requested dish and I only make it on special occasions (frying at home IS excessive but I give you permission to use a whole bottle of canola for this, it’s okay). Before I give you the recipe, I learned some wild things this week and felt like sharing them in rapid succession.
There is a new, expensive, development in Wynyard Quarter that promises fancy restaurants, shopfronts, and even a club! Right on the water! It’s being called, and forgive me for this, ‘Cracker Bay’. If you know why that’s both ridiculous and ironic, I salute you.
A woman in Indonesia got swallowed whole by a python. Rare, but not unheard of. When I lived in Jakarta, I’m pretty sure a Python got loose and killed a zookeeper. The animal tourism in Jakarta was shocking in the early 2000s - the zoo had a drugged white tiger and the aquarium let you swim on dolphins backs in a small tank. By the by, the tank was open to the Orcas, so...that was all safe and ethical.
Pic’s peanut butter are now doing squeezy bottles (I think this is the best news ever).
I used to dislike Albert Cho (@eatlitfood) until he started posting about his restaurant. I don’t think I disliked him, more his content. Not everything is for everyone though, I don’t think it was bad just not for me. However, his recent video content is so watchable. He used to be all abrasive, all offensive, all of the time. He seems to marry that abrasiveness with a lot more humility and humanness now and it’s super fun to watch.
Watch this video: A controlled study was done in Japan in 2022 to learn about the exact mechanisms of… my dad reads this so I’m just going to use a picture of a pokemon for reference:
this pokemon is known as a Squirtle So, the study wanted to learn about the mechanisms of women’s squirtle. The method involved having women who could Squirtle and ONE MALE VOLUNTEER (?!) come in and perform penetrative sex. This is real. Then the researchers would run into the room at the point of climax with a bowl and try to catch the liquid - which was blue because the women had some substance injected into their bladders.
The Recipe
(Hot Honey) Fried Chicken
The brining method for this chicken is very easy, very replicable, and quite foolproof. You probably have all of these things lying around your house: greek yoghurt, eggs, vinegar, white pepper, salt. That’s it, that’s the brine. This recipe has never yielded a bad piece of fried chicken - this chicken is VERY consistent. All the over-50s in my life call me a ‘very clever girl’ when they eat this fried chicken. So if you too want to be called a very clever girl, I have the secret sauce. I usually serve this in a burger with pickles, american cheese, mustard, burger sauce, thinly sliced onions, crispy iceberg, lots of the hot honey, and a soft potato bun. It’s perfect. Amazing on it’s own too. You have permission to not use all the spices as long as you use the paprika, garlic salt/powder, and mustard powder.
Marinade
6 boneless Chicken thighs (or a whole chicken broken down)
200g of Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar/rice wine vinegar/distilled vinegar/lemon juice)
2 Eggs, whisked
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
Fried Chicken
250g Plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme
4 tablespoons Paprika
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 tablespoon Celery Salt
2 tablespoons Garlic Salt
1 tablespoon Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Mustard Powder
1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
3 tablespoons White Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
6 Marinated chicken thighs
Canola oil (enough for frying, about 1.5 litres)
Hot Honey
1/3 cup Honey or Maple Syrup
50g Butter
Hot Sauce (add to your liking)
In a large mixing bowl, mix the yoghurt, vinegar, eggs, salt, and pepper. Season the chicken with salt and pepper then submerge them in the brine mixture as well as you can. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but up to 24 hours.
Combine the flour and spices in a wide high-sided bowl or a tray about 3-5cm deep.
Preheat the oven to 220c if using bone-in chicken or toasting burger buns.
Set up your space for frying. Next to your stove, place a wire rack inside a sheet pan, ready for when your chicken comes out of the pot.
Heat the oil to 175c in a deep cast iron skillet, dutch oven, or a deep, wide stainless steel pot. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil is hot enough by dropping a small bit of brine & flour mixture in. If it sizzles immediately with lots of bubbles, the oil is ready.
Dunk your chicken pieces into the flour, squeezing and pressing the flour into all of the crevices. Scrunch the flour into the chicken with your fingers, lift up the chicken and shake off excess flour, then repeat 3 times. Repeat this process with all of your chicken thighs.
Work in batches and be careful not to overcrowd your pot/pan. For a 25cm base skillet I usually do 3-4 pieces of chicken at a time. Cook for about 5 minutes until golden brown on one side then flip over and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the piece of chicken - bone-in takes more like 6-8 minutes a side. Remove the chicken from the pot with tongs and place them on the wire rack, season with salt. Repeat this with all of your chicken.
If using boneless thighs, you won’t need to put them in the oven. Put them in the oven for 5-10 minutes until cooked through or a thermometer reads 70-75 degrees C. Let them rest for another 5-10 minutes then serve however you want!
(Hot Honey) If making the hot honey (or hot maple - which is actually my preference) - place all the ingredients into a small pot, whisk until thick and bubbly (about 5-8 minutes). Remove from the pot and serve with your chicken.
Notes
If making fried chicken burgers: cut, slice, and butter all of your buns before starting the frying process. If you want people to make their own, set up the condiments, lettuce, sliced onions, and pickles ready for them to go. If you want to build the burgers for everyone like the dictator you are (this is actually my preference because people are too stupid to know that you/we know better) then: add burger sauce to the bottom of the bun, then the fried chicken, then a slice of cheese on top, and lastly the bun. Place in the oven for 3 minutes to slightly melt the cheese. Remove all of the tops and add your hot honey, pickles, onion, mustard.
Try to shake excess flour off really well to avoid bits burning in your oil. If you don’t do this you will probably not be able to reuse the oil.
If your oil isn’t super dark, you can let it cool down, pour it back into the bottle, and use it for either another frying venture, or miscellaneous vegetable cooking/frying.
Disposing of oil: Let the oil cool down, pour it back into the bottle, seal it, then bin it.
First picture looks *crisssspy*
🍗 highest praise!