Southern Fried Shnitzel

So we have our next holiday to look forward to, the Festival of Frying, oops, just kidding, Chanukah, or Hanukah, depending how you wish to spell it. The story of the Macabees and the story of sufganiyot or jelly doughnuts in Israel and doughnuts in general. But there’s also latkes (potato pancakes) and other fried foods which celebrates (all kidding aside) the miracle of the oil in the Menorah in the Temple lasting for 8 days instead of 1. It’s a time to fry, people. So although I make latkes every year and may yet post a recipe here, I decided to go with another fried food for now which I played around with.

We all know southern fried chicken but frankly, you have to fight with the bones and as delectable as it looks, this is always something that annoyed me. So I decided to try shnitzels instead of chicken parts, the skinless, boneless breast of chicken.

People, that’s it, I’m done. Shnitzels ahoy. It is delish and faster than chicken parts and just yummola. And it’s so fried, it’s Chanukah appropriate.

Fair warning. This is fried in a batter and you cannot prepare the batter in advance, it must be made immediately. Let me explain. You soak your chicken in soy buttermilk (soy milk with lemon juice or vinegar) for an hour or two and then you dip it into a mixture of flour with baking powder and spices. So what’s the issue, you may ask? The chemical reaction between the baking powder and the marinade (soy mixture) makes the batter start to react and bubble. So you’ve got to immediately get the shnitzel into the hot oil.

This is not hard to do, you simply must be aware of it before you start. The production line of shnitzel in marinade, flour mixture and hot oil in pan have to be ready to roll so here we go!

Start with your shnitzel

Let them swim in this mixture for about an hour or two. It’s not critical for more than an hour, as your time takes you, just don’t worry if it sits longer than an hour, that’s all. Next prepare your flour mixture. You may think it’s way too much flour but trust me it ain’t. In any event you need to dredge (drag the chicken through the flour mixture) the shnitzel and if you are cheap with the quantity, those last sad pieces will be patchily covered. Too bad. Now put the flour in a bowl and add the baking powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and a bit of salt and pepper. If you like it with a kick, give a shake of chili powder or cayenne.

Whisk all together till combined. This is important since you want the baking powder thoroughly mixed in.

Now that your shnitzel is done soaking, get your production line ready.

Put the chicken (still in its marinade) next to the flour mixture and take a deep frying pan and fill nearly half way with oil. (Add oil as needed if level drops too much. Wait for oil to come back up to frying temp). Bring to oil to the boil and lower a tad (really, just a smidgeon) and put a piece of raw carrot in the oil to help prevent burning of the shnitzel (yes, it really works!!) and this way you can see if the oil is ready to rock and roll.

So dredge/coat your shnitzel from the wet bowl to the dry bowl on both sides, dip back into wet bowl on both sides and re-coat again on both sides. Now it sounds like a pain but it goes very quickly and you are moving fast because the coating starts to bubble. Straight into the hot oil (be careful not to burn yourself!!!) and lay it away from you into the pan. Fry 2-3 minutes on each side. Don’t overcrowd the pan or you lower the temp of the oil and it can get soggy.

Flip carefully with tongs and you will note the coating looks just like southern fried chicken. Yesiree that’s the whole idea! Fry the other side 2-3 minutes or till brown and crispy and carefully remove with slotted spatula or tongs and let drain on wire racks (remember, you put it in paper towels it’ll steam. If, however, you are serving immediately, no prob).

This is crispy and crunchy and will make loads of happy faces at your table, even if it’s just one or two of you 🙂 . Nice served with potato salad Tangy Creamy Potato Salad and coleslaw or cucumber salad Saba David’s Cucumber Salad you will definitely fulfill the frying quotient of the holiday!

Southern Fried Shnitzel

Marinade
2 cups soy milk with 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice or use 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 vinegar
8-10 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or shnitzels

Coating Mixture
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
pinch of salt and pepper
pinch of chili powder or cayenne powder (optional)

Chunk of carrot (prevents burning)
Quart/liter canola oil

Directions:

Mix soy milk with 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 2 tablespoons vinegar (or half juice half vinegar) and mix. Let thicken about 5-10 minutes. Soak chicken in soy mixture for 1-2 hours.

Mix together the coating mixture of flour, baking powder and spices until completely incorporated.

Dredge (or coat) the shnitzel in the flour coating mixture. Dredge back in soured soy milk and again in coating mixture. Yes, do this or it won’t be so amazingly crunchy and crispy.

Heat a quart or litre of oil in frying pan. Test with small piece of carrot if ready, leaving carrot in oil to prevent burning. Place 2 pieces of chicken in. Do not crowd or oil drops in heat and chicken gets soggy. Fry 2-3 minutes till crispy on one side and gently turn to other side with tongs and fry another 2-3 minutes till browned. Remove with slotted spatula or tongs and drain on wire rack and serve hot or cold with coleslaw and potato salad.