Friday, October 16, 2009

Crispy Chicken Strips & Plum Sauce

An easy, delicious and quick mid-week meal, chicken strips and plum sauce are guaranteed to go down a treat. Make plenty of plum sauce when plums are in season.



Crispy Chicken strips

Crispy on the outside and deliciously tender and moist on the inside, nothing beats these chicken strips, which I absolutely love served with homemade plum sauce. If you can, try and use Panko breadcrumbs which are very light and crunchy Japanese breadcrumbs. Although normal bought breadcrumbs do work well, Panko breadcrumbs give a much crispier end result. I like to serve these crispy chicken strips with lots of plum sauce, potato wedges and a classic green salad.

4 chicken breasts cut into long strips
2 eggs
5 tbsp flour
90g/ 3oz/ 1 ½ cups Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

First you need to set up your egg, flour and breadcrumbs for dipping. On one plate put the flour and season it with a good pinch of salt and pepper. On a second plate crack the eggs and lightly beat with a fork. Finally put the breadcrumbs on a third plate. You can now start coating your chicken strips. Start with a light dusting of flour shaking off any excess, then dip into the beaten eggs and finely into the breadcrumbs. Press down slightly so that they stick and that the chicken is evenly covered. Put the chicken on a large plate and continue with the other strips until you are finished.

When ready to cook, heat the oil in a large pan (you need roughly 1 inch of oil to shallow fry them). Preheat the oven to 300F/ 150C/ GM 2. To test whether the oil is hot enough I add a cube of bread (normally just a little piece torn from the heel of the loaf). If it starts to sizzle round the edges immediately then the oil is ready. If it doesn’t, let the oil heat up for longer then try again. If it sizzles too much or the bread instantly turns colour, reduce the heat and let it cool slightly before adding your chicken strips. Add the strips in batches being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for roughly 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown all over and the chicken is cooked inside. Drain the first batch on kitchen paper then pop on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest.

When all the chicken strips are cooked, serve with plum sauce, potato wedges and a crisp green salad.



Plum Sauce

The first time I tried plum sauce was with chicken strips here in Canada at the age of 18. Now I can’t imagine not always having a supply tucked away in my fridge as it is so good and goes with a lot more than just chicken strips!

Although you only need 3 plums for this sauce you can easily double or triple this recipe to use up more if you are lucky enough to grow your own. The sauce freezes well so make lots and always have home made plum sauce at the ready!

Makes approximately 400ml

3 large plums, stones removed & roughly chopped
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp finely grated ginger
60ml/ ¼ cup apple juice
1 tbsp tomato puree
½ tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp honey
60ml/ ¼ cup water or stock
Freshly ground black pepper

Simply place all the ingredients in a medium sized saucepan and slowly bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat slightly and gently continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes until you have a thick, delicious bright pink sauce. Check for seasoning and then allow to cool slightly before blending using a handheld blender or a liquidizer until you have a completely smooth sauce. Leave to cool completely before serving and keep the rest in a sterilized jar.

1 comment:

  1. Mmmm Lynds these would go perfect with Jesse's home made french fries! Yum!

    Chels

    ReplyDelete

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