This morning as I was flipping through The Steamy Kitchen cookbook getting ready to type up this recipe, I found the receipt tucked between two of the pages. September 11, 2010 – the date I purchased the book; I can’t believe it took me nearly 9 months to finally make something! I remember bringing the book home and flagging at least 10 recipes I wanted to try but I quickly realized my pantry was not well-stocked with Asian ingredients. Here, it was the mirin and sake in the teriyaki sauce. The mirin was easy to find (the bottle might also say “sweet cooking rice wine”). I didn’t go out of my way to find sake, as Jaden noted that dry vermouth (which I already had on hand) was an acceptable substitute. (Side note – one of my favorite things about this book is the ingredient guide, which lists common Asian ingredients and explains a little about them (including how to shop for them)).
This dish was a winner all around – quick and easy to throw together, and really delicious. Plus, it’s baked and not fried so none of the mess of frying, or, for that matter, the calories! For some reason my breading didn’t brown much in the oven, but it was still nice and crispy. The only thing I’d do differently the next time I make this dish is to halve the sauce. We loved it, but I guess we’re just not big dippers as we ended up throwing quite a bit away.
Crispy Baked Chicken with Citrus Teriyaki Sauce
adapted slightly from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair
Chicken
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
nonstick cooking spray
Sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons dry vermouth
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons mirin
Preheat oven to 475 F. Place a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
To make the sauce: combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 6 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Line up three shallow bowls on your work surface. Add flour to the first, the eggs to the second and the panko to the third. Beat the eggs to break them up.
Place each chicken breast between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap. Use a mallet or heavy pan to pound until each is about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
One at a time, dredge each chicken breast in the flour (coating both sides thoroughly and shaking to remove excess), in the eggs then in the panko (pressing to make sure the breadcrumbs adhere to the chicken). Transfer to the prepared wire rack. Repeat with each piece of chicken. Spray the tops of the chicken breasts with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Let the chicken rest on the rack for about 5 minutes before serving.
Love me some crispy non-fried chicken and I’m a huge dipper!
This looks good, I need to try this recipe!!
Man oh man, this is so me! I’ve been making this shallow-fried for a long time, but I think I’ll go to the oven next time around.
Ha ha. Happens to me all the time. So many books, so little time. I like that this chicken is baked instead of fried. That high oven temp should give it a nice crust.
Btw, I’m hosting a giveaway on my blog. If you enter, you could win a copy of America’s Test Kitchen “Blue Ribbon Desserts”: http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-and-giveaway.html
I love how crispy this chicken looks. I’ve got a backlog of recipes to try, too. Usually they’re desserts for me, since there’s just two of us and I have no self-control whatsoever. I’ve been noticing that you mention halving or quartering your sweets recipes, though, when you don’t want to make a big batch. So smart! I’m going to have to start doing that.
I love that this isn’t fried. It looks fabulous.
What a wonderful meal! I’m gonna have to try making myself some of that crispy chicken, and the citrus teriyaki sauce sounds awesome! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂
This looks great Tracey. I definitely want to give it a try.
I love chicken of any sort and this sounds fabulous. I really love the sounds of that dipping sauce.
When I coat chicken with panko and bake it, it doesn’t get very brown either. Yours looks really nice though – mine always looks like white chicken on a white plate!
We had to abandon many of my open Asian ingredients when we moved last year, and I haven’t gotten around to repleting them yet. This may be a good reason to. It looks great!
Tracey, I’ve had that cookbook for a year and a half and have only made one thing from it! I think there is pretty much always an ingredient I don’t have. This recipe looks great, though, I’ll have to try it!
I love that this is baked rather than fried 🙂
Oh my… I don’t dare tell you how many cookbooks I have that I’ve never tried a recipe from. There must be a support group out there for people like us.
Good pic though – the recipe sounds delish!!
🙂
ButterYum
This recipe is full of all the flavors I love the most. And don’t feel badly – I have at least 10 cookbooks that I haven’t cooked from yet (and yet I keep buying more books).
I got to review some of the recipes in this book when she was writing it and all of them were pretty good! Looks like you executed this one pretty well. It’s hard to go through all your cookbooks!
This sounds really good. I wonder if my panko is still good–I haven’t used it in forever. This might even be something the girls would eat!
I’m so glad you shared this! I’ve been stuck in a rut and need some inspiration for dinners this week. Can’t wait to try that teriyaki sauce!
Beautiful! This is what I’m making tonight!