Japanese Fried Chicken


One day soon you will be able to enjoy a gourmet meal on board at Earth & Ocean at the Patio™. In the meantime, Chef Tony Egger has created a simplified recipe for a new dish for you to cook to help you bring extraordinary home.
“The inspiration for this dish is from my trips to Japan and Thailand; where I ate a simple, very delicious Fried Chicken dish with my chef friends. I hope you will like it as much as I do.” — Chef Tony Egger
Japanese Fried Chicken
Wilted Spinach, Blistered Tomatoes, Oven Roasted Shiitakes, Red Thai Curry Sauce, Jasmine Rice
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
Chicken Breasts
- 2 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 6 large chunks
- ½ cup / 60 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 whole eggs, beaten
- 1 cup / 120 grams panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 x spice mix) – available online
- Pinch coarse kosher salt
- 2 cups / 500 ml vegetable oil for frying
Red Thai Curry Sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons red Thai curry paste
- 1 ½ cups / 350 ml coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon palm sugar / or white sugar
- 1 piece kaffir lime leaves (ideally fresh)
Wilted Spinach
- 4 handful fresh baby spinach, washed and drained
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- pinch coarse kosher salt
- pinch fresh ground black pepper
TO GARNISH THE DISH…
If you prefer not to garnish the dish simply leave out Steps 3 and 4 below.
Blistered Tomatoes
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- pinch coarse kosher salt
- pinch fresh ground black pepper
Oven Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- pinch coarse kosher salt
- pinch fresh ground black pepper
Jasmine Rice
- 2 side bowls of cooked jasmine rice, or any other rice of your preference.
LET’S COOK IT
Step 1 - Preheat the Oven
- Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit (F)/ 220° Celsius (C).
Step 2 - Make the Red Curry Sauce
Tip - if you like it saltier, add more fish sauce; if you like it sweeter, add more sugar.
- Heat up the vegetable oil in a medium-size size skillet on medium heat.
- Add red curry paste, sizzle for a few seconds, and then pour in coconut milk and bring to a boil.
- Add kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and a pinch of sugar, reduce and simmer for 3-4 minutes; and set aside
Step 3 - Make the Blistered Tomatoes
- Wash the cherry tomatoes and dry with paper towel.
- In a bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat.
- Transfer the tomatoes to a baking sheet pan layered with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the skin starts to blister on the tomatoes, remove from oven and set aside.
Step 4 - Oven Roast the Shiitake Mushrooms
- Wash the mushrooms and then dry with paper towel.
- Leave mushrooms whole, just trim the stems a little.
- In a bowl combine all ingredients and toss to coat.
- Transfer the mushrooms to a baking sheet pan layered with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, turning mushrooms once or twice.
- Once done, remove from oven and set aside.
Step 5 - Prepare the Chicken
- Season the chicken breast pieces with kosher salt.
- Prepare three dishes:
- one with the flour
- one with the eggs
- one with the panko breadcrumbs combined with the shichimi togarashi
- One by one, dredge each chicken piece in the flour, then the egg wash, then the panko-spice mix, then set aside.
Step 6 - Fry the Chicken
- In a large skillet, heat about a 1/4 inch (1 cm) of vegetable oil on medium heat.
- Fry the chicken pieces in batches for about 3 minutes per side or until they are cooked through and crisp on the outside. (The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees F / 74 degrees C.)
- Transfer the finished chicken pieces on paper towels to drain
Step 7 - Cook the Spinach
- Heat a large skillet over high heat until hot
- Add the sesame oil and the spinach and toss quickly with oil to coat.
- When spinach is just wilted, about 2 minutes, remove from heat and season with salt and fresh pepper.
- Discard any excess liquid from the spinach and set aside.
Step 8 - Plate the dish
- Arrange the spinach on the serving plate.
- Place the fried chicken onto the spinach.
- Spoon red curry sauce around the spinach.
- Arrange the blistered tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms onto the plate
- Garnish with some fried sage or fried basil. Enjoy
- Serve with jasmine rice on the side.
Happy “Stay Home” Cooking! with Chef Anton (Tony) Egger