About the Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts (or the amount needed for your family)
Panko bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper
4 cloves of garlic
(herbs and spices depending on your child's fussiness or tastes - I like paprika, onion powder, mustard)
For the salad:
1 Red onion
Half a cucumber
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow pepper
Cherry tomatoes
For the dressing:
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Preparation
1. Tenderise the chicken breasts
Cut any fat off the chicken breasts and tenderise them by pounding them with a meat tenderiser or other heavy object like a rolling pin.
2. Prepare the flour, egg and panko breadcrumbs
Mix the flour, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, white pepper and salt in a bowl. Alternatively just use salt and pepper if your family prefer plainer tastes (you can start to introduce them slowly when you prepare it again). Crack the egg into another bowl and beat. Then place the panko breadcrumbs in a third bowl.
3. Coat the chicken
Place each chicken breast into the flour until coated, then dunk them in the beaten egg and finally place them in the panko breadcrumbs until they are covered.
4. Fry & serve
Place a frying pan on a high heat and fill with 0.5cm or ¼ inch of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot place the panko-coated chicken breasts into the pan and fry for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer panko chicken to a wooden board or cooling rack and let it rest for a few minutes.
5. Make up a simple salad by chopping and combining all the veggies suggsted above or those of your own choice.
6. Combine olive oil and balsamic and shake.
7. Serve immediately with the chicken chopped into pieces as per preference and placed on top.
Notes:
Chicken - you can use breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Panko breadcrumbs - these should be available in your local supermarket. You can also use normal breadcrumbs but the chicken won't be as crispy.
Seasoning - I go to town when it comes to seasoning the flour. This results in a panko coating that's popping with flavour as well as perfectly crispy. I add paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, white pepper and salt. If you don't have all of these, don't let it stop you, you'll still get a tasty panko crust.
Top tips for cooking perfect panko chicken:
Tenderise the chicken - pounding the raw chicken breasts with a meat tenderiser or other heavy object like a rolling pin breaks down the fibres and results in a faster cooking time that keeps the moisture locked in.
Make sure the oil is hot before you fry the chicken - you need the oil to be red hot to get panko chicken deliciously crispy. It's best to drop one panko crumb into the pan to test the oil. If the oil is hot enough the crumb will sizzle up. If the crumb sinks, then you need to wait a little longer.
Use tongs to cook the chicken - they let you handle the chicken safely while you fry it.