What Is Nashville Hot Chicken?
Before diving into the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, let’s review the fundamentals of hot chicken first. There are many variations of hot chicken, but Nashville hot chicken put the hot chicken on the national and international map. As you might have guessed, Nashville hot chicken sandwiches rose to fame out of Nashville, Tennessee.
What Is Different About Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich?
All hot chicken yields its flavor from various spices(dry and wet) that pack a heat punch. Every recipe varies a bit, and chefs will usually have a few secrets of their own. You can think of hot chicken as a fried chicken elevated by robust seasoning and spices. Nashville hot chicken is flavored with dry herbs and spices and dredged in flour like its cousin. Traditional fried chicken usually marinates in a wet batter (often using buttermilk as the liquid base), then dipped in seasoned flour before being deep-fried.
Shades of Red
Nashville hot chicken recipes use a spicy combination of dry seasonings finished with a robust wet seasoning dip that gives Nashville hot chicken a reddish hue. The color of a Nashville hot chicken sandwich varies depending on which heat level and recipe. Nashville hot chicken sandwiches are irresistible spicy with the hallmark deep-fried crunch-like fried chicken. Nashville hot chicken sandwiches have more flavor than regular fried chicken due to a double dose of seasonings in dry and liquid form.
Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich Recipe
While we cannot share our secret spice blend recipe, a handful of spices and seasonings familiar to Nashville-style hot chicken include cayenne pepper that grows on a shrub. Dr. Axe shares that it contains vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin E, potassium, manganese, and flavonoids. Cayenne has been used in cooking and as medicine for over 9,000 years. There’s, even more to love now about Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, including spices with numerous health benefits. The Crimson Rub contains a secret blend of over 16 primary and 32 secondary spices.
Seasoning Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich To Perfection
We tested hundreds of different spice combinations before finding the Crimson Rub. Incredible fried chicken should be crisp, juicy, and flavorful (even without the hot chicken sandwich sweats). Nashville-style hot chicken is different from the game day favorite buffalo wings. Nashville Hot is a fried chicken usually marinated, coated/breaded, and heavily seasoned with herbs and spices. Buffalo wings get their heat from the hot sauce used to toss the hot wings in.
Buffalo and chicken wings are served deep-fried, but they can also be baked, roasted, or prepared in an air fryer. Nashville-style hot chicken sandwiches are fried and known to be very crispy. Another difference is that wings are commonly available in a few styles, bone-in or boneless, or as drums, flats, or drumettes. If you are craving a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, nothing else will do; those wings can wait for the next game.
Another factor that brings a severe dose of flavor to Nashville hot chicken is the coating or rub and the spicy sauce that gets dipped depending on your chosen heat levels. Some folks drizzle on the heat while others do a dip. Classic buffalo wings only get their heat from the sauce tossed in after cooking.
Famous Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich Recipes
Bon Appetit magazine published the legendary Hattie B’s restaurant’s recipe for their Nashville-style Hot Chicken. Their recipe includes a vinegar-based hot sauce. In particular, Hattie suggests Tabasco or Texas Pete brands. Hattie’s recipe also includes cayenne pepper (of course), chili and garlic powder, paprika, and dark brown sugar. Did you know that there are three different kinds of paprika?
Cooking Light describes the differences (and preferred uses) for each of the three types, including sweet paprika (no heat), hot paprika, and smoked paprika. The smoked variety is sometimes called Spanish paprika, and its unique flavor is from the oak used to smoke and dry the peppers. The particular array of paprika you use would affect how your Nashville hot chicken sandwich recipe tastes. It is best not to use smoked paprika if your recipe calls for sweet paprika.
Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches
Now let’s get back to Nashville hot chicken sandwiches! We only ever use premium, all-natural, hormone, and antibiotic-free chicken no matter what spice level you choose. For the Nashville hot chicken lovers who prefer their chicken sandwiches with no heat, we suggest our first level, the country. The country-level has no heat but is full of flavor. The next level up is mild, just right. At Crimson Coward, we only fry our chicken in vegetable oil and we are a halal restaurant.
Climbing The Ladder Up The Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich Heat Scale
Your Crimson Coward Nashville hot chicken sandwich journey heats up with our medium heat level. Imagine just a slap of spice perfection, just a little sting. Once your taste buds are warmed up, then try out our Crimson-hot heat level. Cool off that blaze with a crispy and tangy bite of fried pickles dipped in honey, ranch, or Crimson sauce. Or real heat purists can enjoy their Nashville hot chicken sandwich Crimson-hot level delightfully as is.
Moving Into Really Hot Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich Territory
Nashville hot chicken aficionados chasing the burn should note that “On the Scoville Rating Scale, cayenne pepper is rated typically anywhere from 30,000 to 190,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). (Pure capsaicin has the highest SHU rating.).” If the other levels weren’t hot enough for you then dare to keep chasing the heat trail with our BURRRRN, BABY, BURN level. Our highest heat level is not for everyone, a select few will dare or work up to a BURRRRN, BABY, BURN Nashville hot chicken sandwich.
Don’t say that we didn’t warn you.Some Crimson Coward fans just can’t get enough of the heat or the BURRRRN, BABY, BURN! What unites all Crimson Coward fans is a love of Nashville hot chicken sandwiches fried to perfection and seasoned like a dream. No matter where your taste buds fall on the Crimson Coward heat scale, we know you are sure to love our Nashville hot chicken sandwiches.
The Crimson And The Homestyle
All of our Nashville hot chicken sandwiches are cooked fresh to order and we offer two different options. The Crimson features a toasted brioche bun, a perfectly cooked all-natural chicken breast which is then topped with house-made slaw, pickles and drizzled with our house secret sauce known as Crimson Sauce. The Home Style Nashville hot chicken sandwich is different because we serve it on toasted white bread with American cheese. You choose the heat level with either of our Nashville hot chicken offerings.
Where To Get Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich?
Don’t just take our word for it; check out Top 20 Fried Chicken places in America by USA Today. We have two locations to serve you at, either our flagship in Downey or our newest store in Artesia. Our Long Beach and Lake Forest locations will be opening in the spring of 2022. Both restaurants are open for dine-in, take-out, and delivery seven days a week.
Our incredible team is ready to serve you freshly cooked to order Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, wings by the half or full dozen (Half Coward and the Full Coward), and primarily delicious vegetable-based sides. We appreciate all of our loyal Crimson Coward fans! You can read over 2,400 of our reviews on Yelp.
