Does anyone else love Pinterest as much as I do?
Since I discovered that website, my "to-do" list has become enormous.
I can finally cross of making "Coconut Chicken" off of the list.
While I'm sure it'd be amazing with the sweet chili sauce that Budget Bytes recommended, we just used katsu sauce because it's our favorite dipping sauce in the whole wide world!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 large eggs
1/4 cup coconut milk (optional - I didn't have any, but I want to try it with the coconut milk next time)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil divided
Here's Budget Bytes recipe. I followed it almost exactly, except I didn't measure ingredients. I forget that I need to do that now that I'm blogging! :o)
STEP 1:
Cut off any extra fat globules from your chicken breasts. Cut each breast into strips, diagonally to prevent the end strips from being really short.
STEP 2:
Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and coconut milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut.
STEP 3:
Place 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a large heavy duty skillet and heat over medium/high heat until it is just below smoking. You can test the heat by throwing in a little bit of flour. When it is hot enough, the flour will sizzle and create a lot of bubbles.
STEP 4:
While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/coconut milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut. I find it easiest to coat all of them in the flour then go back and then do the egg wash and panko/coconut for each before moving onto the next.
STEP 5:
After breading the strips, the oil should be hot enough. Place about 4 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate with paper towel to drain and move on to the next batch. After a couple of batches you may need more oil so you can add the second 1/2 cup to the pan. Allow the oil to come up to temperature before frying the next batch (2-3 minutes). Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. If you cut your strips thicker, you will need to bake off the chicken after frying to make sure the insides are cooked through.
[ I actually had to dump the oil every couple of batches because the coconut shreds that fell off the chicken blackened in the oil and stuck to the chicken. You can see it in one of my pictures. So if your chicken is starting to have blackened shreds, using new oil will fix that.
STEP 6:
When all of the strips are done frying, serve immediately with your favorite sauce!
I served this with rice and my husband and I both loved it! It's a pretty inexpensive meal, which is very important to us newlyweds. :o)
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