Pan fried Wasabi Chicken
This is a straightforward and simple recipe to produce a restaurant quality meal quickly and easily in your kitchen at home.
Wasabi Chicken is an exotic sounding meal that will make you feel that you are in South East Asia, especially if you are able to eat outside with a nice bottle of white wine (or a cold beer) just to ease the forkful of the wasabi chicken down.
The longest time is taken in marinating the chicken breasts before you cook them. An hour is enough time to get some of the wasabi flavour into the chicken, but personally I prefer to leave it marinating for 2 -4 hours. The longer you leave it marinating the stronger the wasabi flavour will come through. I would not do it overnight as the chicken becomes extremely spicy. I did that once in error, and will not do it again. The chicken was beyond extremely spicy to the point of almost being uneatable. 🙂 You have been warned.
When we do this we work on a breast of chicken per person if served as a piece. If you want to serve it sliced after it has been cooked then you can get away with less. Unless they are Rugby players of course, then you might need two breasts per serving.
Not only can this be a main course, but sliced and served as part of a cold buffet the Wasabi Chicken will be well received.
This is what you need for 4 servings.
Ingredients
• 4 skinless chicken breasts (4 pcs)
• 4 tablespoons of Kikkoman soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Namida wasabi paste (made up using this method) – you can use more if you want.
• 1 cup of panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs) – coarse bread crumbs will do the job as well. You might need more than this if the chicken breasts are large.
• 4 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
Method
After washing your chicken breasts, carefully pat them dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. As the chicken will be pan fried, it’s important that no water is left over. At this point I will place the chicken breasts between two sheets of baking paper and then bash them with a water filled bottle to thin the breasts down to approximately 1/4″ (6 mm) thickness. I have found that the chicken cooks more evenly and the spiciness is not concentrated at the thinner pieces of the chicken breast.
Next, mix your soy sauce and Namida wasabi paste together in a glass bowl. Place the breasts in the bowl and let them marinate in your fridge for at least one hour. Make sure all of the chicken is covered and turn at least once.
While you wait, prepare for the next step by putting an even layer of bread crumbs onto a plate.
Mix the sesame and vegetable oils together and put into the frying pan to get hot. Do not burn or boil the oil. Just get it to the shimmering point and then turn down slightly. DO this just before you put the breasts into the pan.
When the hour is up, coat the chicken breasts with the breadcrumbs on the plate. Make sure both sides of the chicken get an even coat, and then place the breasts into the hot frying pan.
Fry the breasts in the sesame oil for about 15 minutes at medium heat. Try to flip the breasts every three minutes.
The breadcrumbs should turn a golden brown and the chicken breasts be cooked all the way through. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Remove the chicken from the frying pan, drain the excess oil and let the chicken sit for 5 minutes.
Serve with green salads and mayonnaise.
Tips: If chicken cuts you use are too thick, it will make difficult to properly cook the chicken all the way through – that is why we flatten the breasts before we start. 🙂
This is a simple recipe for Wasabi Chicken, and I am sure your family will want this meal on a regular basis if they enjoy flavoursome, spicy meals. 🙂
Enjoy.