Chicken Breast - Aleh
Aleh
Destroyer of Faith in Humanity
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Okay. My recipe for chicken breast.
This is what I mostly use that glaze for these days -- it's relatively simple, low-stress, and honestly tasty for what it is (which is pretty much chunks of chicken breast with a glaze/sauce).
What you'll need:
When the timer goes off, flip the chicken breast and repeat, giving the other side a good three minute sear.
Turn the heat off. Depending on your stove, you may want to transfer the pan to another burner. Place the breast (which should be mostly raw in the middle between two well-seared sides) on the chopping board. For obvious reasons, you will need to use your stirrer to actually lift the thing. Let it rest for a minute or so.
Cut it roughly in half, reheat the skillet (turning the heat off is to keep the oil from catching fire, which it will if you don't turn the heat off) and sear the edges you just cut for another three minutes. You may need or want to add more oil.
Rinse and repeat (albeit not literally -- there should be no water in the pan), cutting and searing the cut edges, until you have strips of chicken that are roughly between half an inch to an inch thick and seared on three-four sides.
Then cut the strips into chunks roughly as thick as they are wide. Think of them as irregular cubes -- but the exact shape isn't important. They should still be mostly raw in the middle. Reheat the pan again and toss the bunch in there, stirring until they've had a chance to absorb most of the gunk and oil left on the bottom of the pan.
Then toss in the glaze and keep stirring. Remember, this should all be on high heat. Make sure every bit of every piece of the chicken gets nicely coated, and continue stirring as the glaze cooks down. By the time the glaze has thickened enough that the bubbles are slow to pop (I don't really know how to properly explain this -- but the glaze should have a syrupy consistency), and the chicken has acquired a darkened red coating (with pomegranate vinegar -- the color will obviously depend on the type of vinegar you use), the chunks of chicken should be cooked through.
Remove said chunks, maybe drizzle a bit of the remaining glaze from the pan on top of them, and serve.
Edit: Embarrassingly stupid typo.
This is what I mostly use that glaze for these days -- it's relatively simple, low-stress, and honestly tasty for what it is (which is pretty much chunks of chicken breast with a glaze/sauce).
What you'll need:
- One container of the glaze I mention above (meaning honey, soy sauce, and fruit vinegar -- as noted, I generally use pomegranate).
- One whole boneless, skinless chicken breast.
- Vegetable or canola oil.
- A knife, preferably a santoku knife, chef's knife, or butcher's knife. A suitably sharp, non-serrated steak knife will do if you don't have a full knife set or similar.
- A wooden stirring implement. Wooden spoons work, but I prefer to use a spatula stirrer.
- A non-nonstick frying pan. I prefer to use a cast-iron pan for this, but the recipe does involve what many consider a massive no-no for cast iron implements (tossing in an acidic sauce/glaze). There's a minor risk of damaging the seasoning as a result, and so you may prefer to use an aluminum or steel frying pan instead. Just realize that this will reduce the shock and heat retention of the pan, and may thus alter cooking times. Either way, do not use a nonstick pan -- this recipe involves high heat, and will damage or destroy them.
- A clean chopping board.
- Either tongs or a nearby sink to repeatedly wash your hands with.
- A kitchen timer.
- A stove. As usual for skillet recipes, gas works best; do not try this with a glasstop unless you're willing to spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning.
- If you have to share the kitchen with a militant vegetarian who is perfectly willing to make you miserable over the place smelling like chicken, you'll need a fume-hood, too.
When the timer goes off, flip the chicken breast and repeat, giving the other side a good three minute sear.
Turn the heat off. Depending on your stove, you may want to transfer the pan to another burner. Place the breast (which should be mostly raw in the middle between two well-seared sides) on the chopping board. For obvious reasons, you will need to use your stirrer to actually lift the thing. Let it rest for a minute or so.
Cut it roughly in half, reheat the skillet (turning the heat off is to keep the oil from catching fire, which it will if you don't turn the heat off) and sear the edges you just cut for another three minutes. You may need or want to add more oil.
Rinse and repeat (albeit not literally -- there should be no water in the pan), cutting and searing the cut edges, until you have strips of chicken that are roughly between half an inch to an inch thick and seared on three-four sides.
Then cut the strips into chunks roughly as thick as they are wide. Think of them as irregular cubes -- but the exact shape isn't important. They should still be mostly raw in the middle. Reheat the pan again and toss the bunch in there, stirring until they've had a chance to absorb most of the gunk and oil left on the bottom of the pan.
Then toss in the glaze and keep stirring. Remember, this should all be on high heat. Make sure every bit of every piece of the chicken gets nicely coated, and continue stirring as the glaze cooks down. By the time the glaze has thickened enough that the bubbles are slow to pop (I don't really know how to properly explain this -- but the glaze should have a syrupy consistency), and the chicken has acquired a darkened red coating (with pomegranate vinegar -- the color will obviously depend on the type of vinegar you use), the chunks of chicken should be cooked through.
Remove said chunks, maybe drizzle a bit of the remaining glaze from the pan on top of them, and serve.
Edit: Embarrassingly stupid typo.
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