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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

  • 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
Tip - if you like it saltier, add more fish sauce; if you like it sweeter, add more sugar.

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