Spicy Popcorn Chicken

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

So there's very little doubt that these 40 minute buns are a super hit (they even made it into the top 10!) but did you know they were a replacement recipe for a previous hamburger bun recipe? Since the updated recipe is my go-to one and seems to be for others as well, then most y'all may not know about a recipe buried within the older bun recipe for spicy chicken sandwiches. Have I confused you yet? Let's make it simple: there's a great recipe for spicy chicken sandwiches that doesn't get any attention so how about we shine some light on it?

Except, that I'm not going to make the exact same thing (so much for losing the original recipe, AGAIN). I was looking for a side accompaniment to our dinner the other night and decided to do some chicken nuggets for the kids but wanted to kick it up for the grown-ups. Using the spicy chicken sandwich as my guide, I whipped up a batch of these spicy nuggets.

Of course you can stick to the classic and just do the recipe with larger pieces of chicken. This recipe as written is not spicy enough for us  (the heat seems to get lost in the flour, I guess) so if you prefer thinks really spicy then follow my advice and quadruple (yes, that means 4 times!) the cayenne pepper amount like I did and you'll start to notice some heat ;)

Spicy Popcorn Chicken

Enough vegetable oil to deep fry
1/3 cup frank's original red hot pepper sauce
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I quadruple this amount, please don't think I'm crazy!)
1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces (season with salt and pepper to taste)
4 plain hamburger buns


1.Heat-up oil for deep frying

2. Pour the hot sauce in a shallow bowl. In a seperate bowl, mix the flour cayenne pepper, blackpepper,garlic powder. Divide this mixture into two seperate bowls.

3. Dredge each chicken piece in one bowl of the dry mixture, then dip into the hot sauce and back into a second bowl of the dry mixture.
Repeat until you've coated all the pieces.

4. Carefully lower pieces into hot oil using a slotted spoon and fry until evenly golden brown. Be careful not to over-crowd your pan or the chicken will not have a crispy crust. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce or make one yourself by mixing low-fat mayo and hot sauce.