Zinger Stacker-style premium chicken burger

Ingredients

Chicken (Zinger-style)

• 4 chicken breast fillets, butterflied to 1 cm thick
• 300 ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp salt

Spicy seasoned flour

• 200 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt

Hash brown burgers

• 4 small frozen hash brown burgers (or make your own — see Hash Browns recipe)

To assemble

• 4 brioche-style burger buns
• 4 slices smoked streaky bacon
• 4 slices American cheese
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 100 g iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 pickled jalapeño, sliced (optional)
• Oil for shallow frying

Method

1. Brine chicken. Submerge in buttermilk with salt. Rest 30 minutes.
2. Hash browns. Bake or pan-fry the hash brown burgers until crispy. Keep warm.
3. Bacon. Pan-fry bacon until crisp. Keep warm.
4. Dredge chicken. Lift from buttermilk, let excess drip. Press into the spicy flour. Rest 10 minutes. Double-dredge for max crust.
5. Heat oil. Heat 1 cm of oil to 175°C.
6. Fry chicken. 4 minutes per side until deep golden and cooked through. Drain on rack.
7. Melt cheese. Lay a slice of cheese on each chicken piece in the last minute of cooking.
8. Toast buns. Mayo on cut sides, toast in a dry pan.
9. Assemble. Bottom bun → mayo → lettuce → chicken (cheese up) → hash brown → bacon → jalapeños → top bun.

Tips

• The hash brown is what makes this a “stacker”. Without it, it’s just a spicy chicken burger.
• Double-dredge the chicken. This is a premium burger — it needs that craggy crust.
• Brioche bun is worth the extra spend. Regular sesame buns fight the spice.