Any Australian you meet in North America will tell you all about the foods and snacks they miss from home, like Tim Tams, Chicken Twisties, lamingtons, meat pies and Pavlova. One of the most prevalent foods that is longed for, though, is chicken salt. It's a seasoning used, obviously, on chicken (and french fries too!), and it's nearly impossible to find in stores in North America. While the seasoning's recipe has been kept under wraps for years, after some online sleuthing, we've found a few ways to duplicate it at home.
In the United Kingdom, KFC has a seasoning salt that is offered as a topping for french fries, which is not too different from chicken salt. It has many of the same ingredients, and there are several recipes online to make a copycat version. Keep in mind that this is not the "blend of herbs and spices" that's used on the fried chicken itself.
You can choose to make chicken salt/seasoning salt completely vegetarian, like the Australian kind and the KFC seasoning salt, or you can go the extra mile by using real chicken flavor (a method published in Lucky Peach). Either recipe will find its way onto everything you eat as it's a well-balanced seasoning that's truly addictive. Use it in marinades, as a dry rub for meats, sprinkled onto roasted veggies or mixed into salad dressings.
For the vegetarian version of chicken salt, you'll need to mix up:
6 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons MSG
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon citric acid crystals
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground celery seed
If you want to make the gourmet, truly chickeny type, you'll need:
180 grams chicken skin, trimmed
270 milliters chicken stock
80 grams mushroom powder
180 grams kosher salt
20 grams white pepper
45 grams sea salt
20 grams garlic powder
20 grams onion powder
It's a significantly more difficult recipe, but the results are amazing. Follow the full recipes found in the links above.
