This Max Chicken Recipe, I make use of a DRY brine to make the chicken moist and flavorful. It also DOES NOT involve boiling or steaming, but frying in oil 2 times to achieve that classic Max's Style Fried Chicken look, taste, and feel.

What you'll need:
-a whole chicken
-salt (if you have Kosher, better)
-fish sauce (patis)

In a dry brine method, no water is used but instead coarse salt and other dry spices are sprinkled all over the chicken in order to infuse the chicken with flavor. This method also keeps the prep to a minimum and prevents excess water from diluting the flavors we intend to incorporate on the chicken

A dry brine essentially draws moisture out from the chicken, then after several hours (at least 8 hours) this drawn out moisture comes back inside the chicken, along with whatever flavorings or spices you have included along with the salt, delivering a concentrated mix of flavors that have been mixed with the chicken's natural juices. This provides you with a moist, tender, and juicy fried chicken. And since the exterior of the chicken is dry, browning and crisping of the skin becomes so much easier. In addition, this dry exterior also is what prevents any dangerous splatters from happening (most splatters come from the moisture that comes into contact with the hot oil), thereby giving you a worry-free frying session

I also did not resort to steaming/boiling the chicken so as to ensure that I will get the skin as flawless as possible, while also minimizing the occurrences of chicken bones (e.g. from the wings) protruding from the skin. I meant to kind of slow cook the chicken in the 1st frying in order to make sure it gets cooked the whole way through, have it rested for a couple of minutes, then throw it in for a 2nd frying on a higher temp to ensure that the skin gets crispy.

When it comes the amount of salt to be used for the chicken, it's really hard to give a precise measurement, but here are a few keys to ensuring a properly salted bird for brining:

-season the chicken from a height of approx 8-10 inches, making sure that the salt granules fall evenly over its skin

-grab some salt granules using three fingers, and allow them to fall from your fingers in an even manner

-make sure you season all areas with at least a thin layer of salt, but personally, I am careful when it comes to smaller/thinner areas like the neck and the wings as they can become quite salty if you place too much on these areas.

Here I also cut the chicken lengthwise in order to facilitate faster cooking and less use of oil. With regards to the oil, I use new vegetable oil but I add some oil I previously used for frying chicken. Not only does the chicken gets better flavor, it also helps for easier and better browning (caramelization).


**In this video I only used salt and fish sauce to season the chicken, but feel free to add any of your spices of your choice. I only meant to make the real flavor of the chicken to be really accented by the salt and fish sauce. Common Ma'xs style chicken recipes usually include garlic, onion, and bay leaves in the mix, so if you will be using the dry brine method, it is best to use dried spices/herbs as well.

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