I thought I had heard of a recipe where you marinate your protein (chicken or pork) in sour cream, then batter it and fry it. Apparently, you need to add another fat (like an eggwash) before battering.
When I placed the sour creamed and battered chicken into the frying pan, all of the batter slid right off, leaving a bunch of charred cracker crumbs and pan-fried (but not battered) chicken. Rather gross...
This is a most interesting post. I hope I don't come across as Dear Abbey but here goes.
Correction:
An egg wash, egg + water, is not another fat unless it is made with milk + egg whisked together. It is another protein.
Possible problems:
1. didn't dry the chicken before dipping in sour cream then cracker crumbs.
2. sour cream wasn't thinned enough (should have been no thicker than buttermilk)
3. oil was too hot / sour cream too cold
4. recipe was for oven baked chicken not deep fried.
5. cook too drunk
6. misread recipe
Conclusion:
Most likely the sour cream was part of a marinade and not the batter and should have been discarded and the chicken patted dry before dipping in something then rolling in cracker meal. (crushed cornflakes and instant potato flakes are another good trick)
The use of sour cream interests me but after a quick search I found no fried chicken recipes using sour cream but see no reason it couldn't be used as a substitute for buttermilk if it is thinned to that consistency. I have often used yogurt as a meat tenderizer and it has about the same consistency as sour cream. I called a chef friend and he was puzzled as well but said it was an interesting idea but said he would thin the sour cream or creme fraiche to a workable consistency and maybe mix some Parmesan cheese in with the cracker meal.
