Chicken Schnitzel with Cuca Salt (and IGF's 2nd Anniversary!) [Recipe]

This is called killing two birds with one stone.

Chicken schnitzel with Cuca salt

Pun intended.

So like, I got a beautiful present from Cuca in Bali, surprisingly went through Aussie's custom without any problem, and it was so prettily packaged and smelled really good that I was so curious to try making something with it. Here you go, the handcrafted, artisanal salt, best used in chicken dishes:

Cuca handcrafted & artisan salt for chicken

Isn't it pretty? As soon as I received it, I went straight to Mr. Google to find an appropriate recipe. A friend tried the salt with steamed chicken with garlic (pek cham kee), so I thought I'll go to the crunchier option: chicken schnitzel.

And, I happened to have a week-old, rock-hard baguette, so I made that into breadcrumbs. Mortar and pestle were involved.

Ingredients

Here's the recipe I used and adapted from:
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Chicken schnitzel
Recipe adapted from Taste
(for about 2 servings)


Ingredients:

• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• handful of chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
• 2 tbsp of chopped chilli
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 egg
• 500 g of chicken breast fillet (or two pieces of that)
• vegetable oil for frying
• salt and pepper for seasoning (I used Cuca artisan salt)
• 1 lemon for squeezing and garnish

Method:

1. Combine breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and chilli. Season with salt and pepper. Place flour on a plate. Whisk egg in a shallow bowl.

2. Coat 1 piece of chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg mixture. Coat in breadcrumb mixture. Place on a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken, flour, egg mixture and breadcrumb mixture.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, in batches, for 4 to 5 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Serve with lemon wedges.

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Easy? Totally!

The aunt's chicken schnitzel is a very practical meal for me, there is always a container of pre-crumbed chicken on the freezer, so when I can find nothing else to eat in the fridge, I can also pop one or two onto the pan.

But guess what, my crumbing is better!

Rock hard baguette into breadcrumbs

I love colourful things.

But really, the crumbing flavour was really great. Even I was surprised. I love the scent of the parsley, the garlicky touches, and sharp stabs of the chilli. You can omit the chilli of course, but I prefer some heat on my food.

I did bad job with the parsley chopping, it should be finely chopped, but I couldn't care less, really.

Unmixed crumbing ingredients

Mixed crumbing

Don't be shy with the crumbing. I was going to do it double-crumbed but was too hungry to do so. I'll try it next time. And with your chicken fillet, make sure you buy the breast fillet. I bought the chicken breast with the bones still intact, so I had to slice them before using.

Chicken breast fillet - before and after

The result was incredible.

I was really surprised that I could achieve the perfect state of cooking the chicken; it's juicy and tender, but not undercooked at all. The crumbing is pretty, crunchy, and full of interesting flavour.

Final result - chicken schnitzel with Cuca salt

I have to say, Cuca salt is a perfect partner of chicken. It somehow brings the sweetness of the chicken, and enhances the juiciness as well. It does have some spicy stings, but it'll awaken your tastebuds even more.

Squeeze some lemon, and you'll get nice tangy finish.

Another exciting thing is that today's IGF's 2nd birthday! Wow, where does the time go? It feels like it is only yesterday that I post about the 1st anniversary, but here I am, being really grateful of this achievement and saying endless thanks to all of you, my supporters, commenters, critics, and dear readers!

I am really glad to say that my passion for food and blogging hasn't dimmed at all. I have also noticed that my confidence to take out my camera in restaurants and asking for photo-taking permission, although it is still a bit awkward. There are lots of exciting moments which almost make my hyperventilate, for example being one of the 10 winners of a blog competition.

I hope that this blog continues making you drool over your keyboard, offering you good-looking visual stuff and interesting posts to enjoy. I will never stop trying to improve every single aspect of the blog. I haven't been eating out very often these days because they have been really hectic, but you can expect some drool-worthy restaurant reviews as soon as I got my spare time to visit some most-talked restaurants in the city or surprising find of hidden gems.

And thank you. Billion times thank you. Thanks heaps for reading my small space of gluttony, thanks for giving my continuous support, comments, and even critics. Cheers to many years to come!