Chicken Schnitzel

Method

How it goes together

1. 01

   Step 1

   Place the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound to 1/4 inch thick. Season both sides with salt and black pepper.

   Even thickness is the whole game: a cutlet of uniform depth cooks through in the same time the crumb takes to go golden, so nothing is raw or dry. Seasoning the meat itself, rather than only the crumb, puts flavour where you can taste it.

2. 02

   Step 2

   Make breadcrumbs by pulsing 6-8 slices of bread in a food processor until crumbed. Use plain breadcrumbs instead if you don't have fresh bread.

   Fresh crumbs are irregular and open, so they trap oil in pockets and fry up shaggy and light. Fine dry crumbs pack flat and give a denser, sandier coating.

3. 03

   Step 3

   Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs into 3 separate shallow bowls. Add garlic powder to the breadcrumbs and mix through.

   Three shallow bowls in order keeps one dry hand and one wet hand, so the flour bowl does not turn to paste and the crumbs stay loose enough to coat the next piece.

4. 04

   Step 4

   Preheat the oven to 200°F. Set a wire cooling rack on a baking sheet. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil heats, dip each chicken piece in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, coating both sides and pressing gently to stick. Shake off the excess crumbs.

   Each layer does a job: flour dries the surface so the egg grips, egg glues, crumbs armour. The low oven and rack keep the finished cutlets hot without steaming the crust soft from below. Crumbing while the oil heats means the coating goes into the pan before it has time to go soggy.

5. 05

   Step 5

   Cook 2 cutlets at a time until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Gently swirl the pan as they cook so the oil washes over the coating. Transfer to the wire rack and keep in the oven while you cook the rest. Squeeze over fresh lemon juice, top with chopped parsley and serve immediately.

   Two at a time keeps the oil temperature up so the crust sets fast. Swirling the pan washes hot oil over the top of the coating, puffing it away from the meat into that blistered, separated crust.