Recipe-less Pounded Fried Chicken Thigh

We all get a hankering for fried chicken, but making it at home is different ball game. Setting up your space to deep fry, brining, battering your chicken, getting your oil to temperature, making sure to not set your whole house on fire…. no, not for me.

This is inspired by the veal Milanese that has been an Italian staple for many years, and the Japanese katsu. Personally, I love to eat it in the sarnie form, the soft bread, crunchy fresh cabbage, crispy chicken with spicy mayo makes a great snack/meal. Obviously you can eat the chicken thigh in many forms.

With Recipe-less I give you the general ingredients needed and things you could add to the process without giving you measurements. Especially this recipe, measurements aren’t crucial- whether or not you know how to cook.

prep/cooking time:15-20 minutes

Main Ingredients

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Eggs (1 egg is roughly enough for 1 thigh)

Flour

Panko breadcrumbs

salt, oil

Additional optional Ingredients

Dried spices- (pepper, smoked paprika, paprika, coriander powder, cayenne powder, cumin…)

Hot sauce

Cheese- (parmesan, pecorino, aged dry cheeses)

Sesame seeds

Method

1. On a board, place down your chicken thigh. Layer a piece of cling film over the top, and start pounding the chicken until it’s about 1 cm. Season the chicken with salt on both sides.

2. In a bowl, beat egg with a splash of water and hot sauce if using. In a second plate, add flour along with spices you might be using, make sure to lightly season with salt and to toss the ingredients together to make sure it’s mixed. In the third plate, add panko and cheeses or sesame seeds you might want to use, mixing until everything is even.

3. Take your chicken thigh and dip it into the eggs, making sure that it coats the whole thigh, let the excess drip off.

4. Lay the eggy thigh into the flour mix. Pat the flour onto the chicken until every part of it is coated. Lightly tap the excess off.

5. Dip the floured thigh back into the eggs, coating the whole piece. Let the excess drip off.

6. Lay the eggy chicken piece into the panko breadcrumbs, make sure to evenly coat the chicken with the panko. You want every part of the chicken covered.

7. In a pan big enough to fit the thigh, add enough oil so that the entire bottom is covered- a few tablespoon is enough. Heat the oil to medium high heat. You can test when the oil is ready by dropping in a breadcrumb, if it starts to bubble its ready.

8. Gently add in the breaded thigh into the pan- don’t drop it in as it’ll make hot oil splash everywhere (ouch.) The thigh cooks for a total of 5 minutes, 2 to 3 minutes a side, or until each sides are golden brown. Take it out of the oil, and transfer to paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve hot however you like.