feed me comfort food
Recipe: Homemade chicken nuggets
Chicken is hip. Rightly so. Because little beats a juicy, tender piece of chicken. In my Handbook for the Perfect Chicken, I explain how to make a superior chicken dish. Real chicken nuggets aren’t bought at KFC or McDonald’s but simply made at home.
door Marcus Polman
How to make them
- Cut the chicken breasts into more or less equal cubes measuring 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm.
- In a bowl, make a brine solution with water, a tablespoon of salt and the Worcestershire sauce. Let the salt dissolve completely.
- Now place the chicken pieces in the bowl and put the covered bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (no longer, otherwise the meat will become too salty).
- Remove the chicken pieces from the bowl and pat them dry with kitchen paper (so that the coating sticks properly).
- In a bowl, mix the flour with the breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, remaining teaspoon of salt, pepper and baking soda.
- In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy and bubbles form.
- In two batches, coat the chicken pieces thoroughly in the egg white and then in the flour mixture. Each piece should be well covered. Press the coating on gently so it sticks properly. Keep the remaining flour mixture.
- Place the coated chicken pieces separately on a plate and let them firm up, covered, in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 100 °C and remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
- Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly all around in the remaining flour mixture once again.
- Pour the oil into a frying pan. Make sure you use enough oil, because the nuggets should be completely submerged in oil while frying.
- Heat the oil over medium heat to 175 °C (check this with a thermometer or use a small piece of nugget to test whether the oil is hot enough; it should gently sizzle).
- Slide half of the nuggets into the hot oil and fry them for 3–4 minutes until the outside is golden brown.
- Remove the nuggets from the oil with tongs and let them drain on kitchen paper for 2 minutes.
- Then place them in the preheated oven and keep them warm.
- Always let the oil return to temperature before adding the next batch of nuggets.
- Serve the nuggets with, for example, chilli sauce (and provide napkins!)
Title: Handbook for the Perfect Chicken
Author: Marcus Polman
Price: €19.95
Publisher: Fontaine
Read also:
