National Hot Chicken Day

Hot chicken tantalizes the senses today on National Hot Chicken Day. Thornton Prince III is credited for creating hot chicken at the Bar-B-Que Chicken Shack—now Prince's Hot Chicken Shack—in Nashville, Tennessee. According to lore, Thornton Prince, known for being a womanizer, came home to his girlfriend late one Saturday night in the 1930s. She suspected he had been canoodling with another woman, and the next morning prepared him a breakfast of extra spicy chicken as a form of payback. He didn't know the chicken was hot until he started eating it, but the hot peppers-laden chicken wasn't off-putting, and instead of recoiling, he asked for more. Prince liked the hot chicken so much that he dialed in a recipe with his brothers and soon opened a restaurant to sell it at.

According to some sources, Prince opened the Bar-B-Que Chicken Shack at 28th Ave. and Jefferson St. in Nashville in the mid-1930s, but others indicate it opened in 1945. Regardless, it soon moved downtown, close to the Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Opry stars often headed to the restaurant for chicken after performing, and due to segregation laws, a separate room was built for white guests. André Prince Jeffries, Thornton Prince's great-niece, took the restaurant over in 1980 and renamed it Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. It moved to Ewing Drive in East Nashville in 1988. The location closed in 2018 due to a fire, but other locations remain. Over the years, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack popularized hot chicken and inspired other restaurants to offer similar menu items.

There are several ways to make hot chicken. The chicken may be marinated in a water or buttermilk-based seasoning, floured, and then fried. It is usually then coated with a paste made of cayenne peppers and lard, often three parts peppers and one part lard, which has been heated until it makes a thick sauce. While the sauce is traditionally applied after frying, it is sometimes applied before the chicken is breaded and fried. A spicy dry rub may also be applied to the chicken before frying it. The chicken is either deep-fried, pan-fried, or fried using a pressure cooker, with olive oil sometimes being the oil of choice. The spice level varies from recipe to recipe, and other "secret ingredients" are regularly added to the peppers and lard paste, like sugar, garlic, ghost peppers, and hot sauce, varying from one recipe to the next.

Hot chicken was originally served bone-in, and that is still often the case, but many places now serve boneless tenders. Hot chicken is often served on top of slices of white bread along with pickle chips, as it is at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. Common sides are coleslaw and fries. Hot chicken is also served in sandwich form.

Hot chicken is Nashville's signature food and is often known as Nashville hot chicken. Dozens of restaurants in the Nashville area serve it. Some restaurants in the city besides Prince's are Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish, Pepperfire Hot Chicken, and Hattie B's Hot Chicken. Since the time Prince opened his restaurant, hot chicken became popular in the South and is now common throughout the United States and around the world. Some restaurants have promoted National Hot Chicken Day. For example, Angry Chickz has offered discounted chicken sliders, Howlin' Willy's has offered buy one get one three-piece tender plates, and Cowboy Chicken has offered buy one get one Nashville hot chicken sandwiches.

How to Observe National Hot Chicken Day

• Make yourself some hot chicken. Make sure to serve it on white bread with some pickle slices. You could also accompany it with sides like coleslaw and french fries.
• Try your hand at making hot chicken sandwiches.
• Have hot chicken at a restaurant. The ideal place to have it is Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville. Other Nashville restaurants you could try include Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish, 400 Degrees Hot Chicken, Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Helen's Hot Chicken, The Loveless Cafe, Pepperfire Hot Chicken, and Party Fowl.
• Have hot chicken at one of the best places outside of Nashville that serve it.
• Have hot chicken at a chain restaurant such as Angry Chickz, Howlin' Willy's, Cowboy Chicken, Lea Jane's Hot Chicken, Dave's Hot Chicken or Hattie B's Hot Chicken, which is based in Nashville but also has locations outside the city.
• Check for specials being promoted in honor of the day at any restaurant you may visit.
• Watch a short documentary about Prince's Hot Chicken Shack.
• Make plans to attend the next Music City Hot Chicken Festival.
• Pick up a copy of The Hot Chicken Cookbook or Hot, Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story.
• Share pictures of your hot chicken and details about how you are celebrating on social media along with the hashtag #NationalHotChickenDay.

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