Six Tasty New Twists on Aussie Chicken Salt for You To Make at Home

Chicken salt has been flavouring Australia’s hot chippies and charcoal chooks for almost 50 years now. And while the legacy version holds a special place in many hearts, its classic formula is robust enough to allow for some very tasty experimentation.

We asked some spice-loving chefs to create their own version of the nostalgic seasoning. Here’s what they came up with: six easy-to-follow recipes perfect for sprinkling on popcorn, potatoes, stir fries and even fruit.

Killer cluck dust by Sandra Seah from Six-Eyed Scorpion, Melbourne
This blend is basically me (and Six-Eyed Scorpion) in seasoning form: punchy, spicy and a little unexpected. It’s nostalgic, but grown-up, with just the right amount of kick. The mushroom seasoning is a game changer – it deepens the umami.

Makes around 100g

Ingredients
1 tbsp chicken stock powder
1 tbsp mushroom seasoning (find in Asian grocer)
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp gochugaru
1/2 tbsp sichuan peppercorns (toasted)
1/2 tbsp black peppercorns (toasted)

Method
Chuck everything into a spice grinder or Nutribullet and blitz into a powder. It doesn’t have to be super fine. I kind of like seeing the little specks of gochugaru and texture in there.

Suggested uses
• Potato gems
• Popcorn
• Fried chicken

Fish and chip curry chicken salt by Jacob D’Vauz from Special Delivery, Perth
Within my Burmese and Singaporean cultures, food preserving and drying has been an important part of our heritage – a way to build simple seasonings for easy or complex meals. The main influences on this recipe are my wife Anisha’s career in seafood and my death row meal: fish and chips. Beef tallow is the authentic fish and chip fat of choice (it fries hotter and holds its crisp longer), hence using beef stock powder, plus smoked salt amplifies the beefiness from the tallow. If you can find dried vinegar powder, that’s a bonus as I always order a pickled onion at the chippy.

Makes around 125g

Ingredients
50g chicken stock powder, Lee Kum Kee Bouillon Powder for preference
50g beef stock powder (not cubes)
10g nutritional yeast (find in supermarkets and health food stores)
5g Maldon Smoked Sea Salt, otherwise regular Maldon Sea Salt will do the trick
5g S&B Oriental Curry Powder (find in Asian grocer)
5g white pepper, ground
1g caster sugar
3g dried vinegar powder (optional, find at specialty grocer)

Method
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend till it’s fine and all is incorporated.

Suggested uses
• Katsu chicken or fried fish (dusted onto the protein while hot)
• Seasoning steaks, burgers and red meats as a dry rub prior to grilling, smoking or roasting
• I make a prawn and scallop toast with black sesame loaf after frying and dusting with a side of lime. The salt compliments the seafood.

Pechuga mezcal chicken salt by Jeremy Blackmore from Cantina OK/Mucho Group, Sydney
Pechuga mezcal is for celebrating, often produced for quinceaneras or Dia de los Muertos. It’s redistilled with fresh and dried ingredients from the local fields and markets, including a chicken breast hung directly in the still. These ingredients give it a delicious, weird intensity and it’s this kind of flavour we are re-creating with our pechuga salt. We start with a base of actual chicken salt and then layer in some of the flavours that make pechuga so special.

Makes around 270g

Ingredients
200g chicken salt
Zest of 2 oranges
25g dried banana chips
20g white sugar
15g ground chipotle
1g ground cinnamon

Method
With a Microplane, grate your fresh orange zest onto a large plate and cover with the chicken salt. Leave to dry overnight. In a spice grinder, pulverise the dried banana chips, then add in the chicken-salt-and-orange mix and the rest of the dried ingredients. Grind until it is one consistent texture. Put in a salt shaker or on a little dish.

Suggested uses
Serve this salt shaken on top of fresh fruit, dusted around the rim of your margarita, in a bag of hot popcorn, or with a squeeze of lime on a plate of fried crickets.

Sour cream and “chive” chicken salt by Narit Kimsat from Yang Thai, Melbourne
I was trying to mimic the flavour of sour cream and chive flavoured potato chips for hot chippies. I had it on the menu, but when I was working on it, I couldn’t get any dried chive, so I replaced it with dried celery. It’s a happy, tasty accident.

Makes 100g

Ingredients
55g chicken powder, Knorr brand for preference
15g onion powder
10g garlic powder
10g dried celery
5g black pepper
5g salt

Method
Mix it all in a mixing bowl, store in airtight container.

Suggested uses
Sprinkle on any fried foods (fish and chips, potato cake, dim sim) or add as seasoning to stir fries. Would also be nice with roasted, grilled or steamed vegetables.

Coastal chicken salt by Victoria Lennard from Restaurant Botanic, Adelaide
This recipe was inspired by foraging saltbush at the beach.

Makes around 100g

Ingredients
50g chicken stock powder
20g smoked paprika
10g garlic powder
10g onion powder
2g lemon myrtle
2g coastal saltbush powder or saltbush seeds
2g smoked sea salt
1g or 2g vinegar powder
1g pepperberry powder
1g sugar
0.5g anise myrtle

Method
Grind all the ingredients in a spice grinder. I prefer to grind the saltbush separately to make the texture a little coarser.

Suggested uses
For a take on salt and vinegar chips, fry saltbush leaves and dust on at the end. Or dust on a potato cake.

Dirty bird salt by Harry Stephens from Chappy’s Chips, Melbourne
Chicken salt on chips is a religion in Australia. An Australian delicacy. It was a no-brainer to add it to our range. Plus it was a mate who suggested it to me, so we tried it and Bob’s your uncle.

Makes around 150g

Ingredients
3 tbsp fine salt
4 tsp yeast extract
3 tsp caster sugar
3 tsp paprika
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp coriander seed, ground
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp MSG
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed, ground
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp white pepper, ground
¾ citric acid

Method
Mix ingredients together – ideally blend everything in a blender so it creates a fine dust for easy powdering.

Suggested uses
It’s a flavour sensation for your golden potato chips or fried dirty bird. Season liberally.

This story is part of Broadsheet’s special Nostalgia Issue , presented by Up, documenting food, fashion, culture, travel and tech that makes the past new again.