But isn’t that chicken katsu? Well, that is the Japanese name for a very similar dish. In Latin America, it’s milanesa. It’s escalope in France and cotolleta (with veal, traditionally) in Italy. The fact that fried breaded fillet dishes are found all around the world should give you an idea just how good and well loved the dish is. And it’s easy to make. The key is in organizing.
The coating consists of three ingredients, and you’ll need separate bowls for each. Shallow bowls. One for the flour, another for the egg and a third for the mixture of bread crumbs, Parmesan and herbs. Arrange them on your work surface like an assembly line.
By default, we use chicken thigh fillets for any dish that requires chicken fillets. You may, of course, substitute chicken breast fillet if that is your preference. But whether you’re using thigh or breast fillets, you need to pound them to an even thickness before dredging in flour, dipping in egg and coating with the flavor fortified bread crumbs.
Prep each fillet before your start frying. Don’t worry — once the fillets are coated with bread crumbs, they will not stick to one another even if you stack them on a plate. If your frying pan cannot comfortably accommodate all four fillets, cook them in two batches.
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg (or use the white from an extra large egg), beaten
- 1 cup bread crumbs (panko was used here)
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
- 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence or your choice of herb blend
- 4 chicken thigh fillets
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- cooking oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the flour in a shallow bowl, the egg in a second shallow bowl and the bread crumbs, tossed with Parmesan and herbs, in a third bowl.
- Place the chicken fillets on a sheet of cling wrap, sprinkle in the salt and pepper evenly, cover with another sheet of cling wrap then pound with a kitchen mallet until of uniform thickness.
- Dredge each fillet in flour, dip in egg then coat with breadcrumbs.
- Heat enough cooking oil in a frying pan to reach a depth of at least an inch and a half.
- Over medium-low heat (so as not to burn the cheese-laden breadcrumbs), fry the chicken fillets until golden and crisp, two to three minutes per side.
- Serve your herb and Parmesan chicken schnitzel while hot.
