In honor of TODAY, being National Fried Chicken Day, and July, being National Picnic Month, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for one of the best, classic picnic entrees – fried chicken… El Pollo Loco Style!
EL POLLO LOCO STYLE CHICKEN
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Secret Make Alike Recipes – Revised (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; May 1997, p. 46). As always, I’m asking only for proper credit if you care to re-share it.
LOS ANGELES, CA – At the heart of the restaurant was its family recipe for chicken marinade (a mix of fruit juices, herbs and spices). The first El Pollo Loco unit to hit the U.S. was launched in 1980… Denny’s purchased the chain in 1983, when only 17 [units] existed – all of them in southern California…
In 1985, the Irvine, California-based chicken fast-food chain set a goal to open 200 units across the U.S. by 1990. El Pollo Loco [reached its] goal of 200 units – July 9, 1990, California… The newest 5-year plan for El Pollo Loco – “The Crazy Chicken” – [is] 500 units and expansion into new markets by 1995.
The chain can trace its history back to the mid-1970s, back to a small roadside restaurant in [Guasave, Sinaloa] Mexico.
THE SINGLE MOST requested recipe of all of our radio broadcasts and mail requests – El Pollo Loco. California’s exclusive chicken recipe is still a secret and their people are very careful not to divulge exact ingredients, which all food people do in skirting the issue of “having to” tell what their precious products contain.
Placed on a broiler rack and basted, while being broiled from underneath – instead of from over the food – I learned very little [else] except that, making it at home, we would have to do some fancy footwork in the kitchen to come up with a positive “Make-Alike” [version].
However, my unorthodox technique did work and I was pleased that it really reminded me of this so-called secret recipe…
INGREDIENTS:
3-lb cut-up chicken [or 9 bone-in & skin-on pieces]
[2 to 4 cups chicken broth]
[Basting mixture:]
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup oil (canola or vegetable preferred)
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
The first unorthodox step I took was to briefly simmer the cut-up chicken pieces, with skin intact, in a deep-sided skillet [in just enough chicken broth to barely cover]; keeping pieces in single layer, without crowding them, and only until the meat appears milky white and the juices run clear (no longer pink).
Allow to cool in the broth (all the time covered), while you prepare the broiler basting sauce [with the rest of the ingredients, mixing together as listed]. The turmeric gives it that truly yellow color, along with a little bit of a nip. We use it, in making pickles, a lot. Trust me. It works.
Arrange chicken pieces skin-side up, on a broiler pan, in a single layer and baste with enough of the basting mixture to evenly coat the skin side. Turn and [coat the] other side, too, briefly.
Turn again to skin side up and broil 6 [inches] from broiler heat, brushing in additional basting mixture every few minutes until skin is really crispy and golden brown (depending on size of pieces – 5 to 8 minutes for large pieces and 4 to 6 minutes for smaller pieces).
Serve promptly and enjoy! The basting mixture, as given here, is sufficient to baste 9 pieces of a 3-lb cut-up fryer.
See also…
