Homemade Chicken Salt

Chicken Salt is an intense flavored salt that originated in Australia. The perfect umami kick for almost everything: fries, vegetables, salads – and of course for grilled chicken in all variations.

In the past few weeks, the international food blogs almost overflowed around the topic of chicken salt. Yet flavored salt has been a classic in Australia for many years, and downunder it’s the defacto standard for just about anything from the fryer. But it can do much more than season fish & chips. Especially if you make it yourself, abandoning all artificial content. In the industrially produced salts, this is often different, especially with the vegetarian variants of chicken salt often offered there, one should rightly become suspicious.

Already a sensation in Australia, chicken salt is the savory umami magnet that belongs on everything.

Because all you need is a lot of chicken and a little more time. A free weekend is ideal.

The first step is to remove the skin from the chicken. In my case, I purchased and skinned eight large chicken legs. From meat and bones cook an intense chicken stock, which will play a major role later. The skin goes into the oven for the first production phase: about 25 minutes at 180 degrees should be enough.

Then the crispy, fat-dripping pieces of skin are added to the previously prepared and already reduced chicken stock. 250ml is quite enough. For now it is necessary to reduce the stock completely, thus covering the skin with an additional coat of the most intense chicken flavor.

Now came the most time-consuming step: the now very soft and intense skin must be carefully dried. Either overnight in the dehydrator or (as in my case) for 4-5 hours in the oven at 80 degrees. The skin must be really firm, dry and crisp.

The final step is to blend it briefly but vigorously in a Thermomix (or other powerful blender) along with 3/4 of the salt, the dried mushrooms, onions and garlic. I then mixed in the remaining sea salt, still coarse, to add a little more crunch and texture to the salt.

And just like that, you have your own Chicken Salt – and with it a surprising finishing variation for a variety of dishes. Without additives – but neither vegan nor vegetarian.