Could you show me a kid who doesn’t like schnitzel?
My kids are crazy about schnitzel. I love schnitzel, and the Israelis love schnitzel.
Schnitzel is a wonderful thing.
Chicken breast seasoned with a crispy coating of bread crumbs.
A little ketchup, mayonnaise, and chili sauce, who needs more than that.
An easy recipe for schnitzels
For years I thought that preparing schnitzels was a complicated and messy process.
But over time, I have perfected the process, so nowadays, I can produce many schnitzels quickly and with a no-mess at all.
This recipe will make bite-size schnitzels, but the recipe is also suitable for making regular large schnitzels. The technique is the same.
Before we dive into the recipe, a few words about the schnitzel…
Chicken schnitzel – the incarnation of the wiener schnitzel
The meaning of the word schnitzel in German is a small slice.
Many people tend to mistakenly think that the origin of the schnitzel is from Vienna, Austria.
The Wiener schnitzel, which is made from a white veal coated with bread crumbs, gained its fame thanks to the famous Austrian general Josef Radecki, to whom tradition attributes the recipe’s distribution.
However, the schnitzel origins are much older, and its roots begin in the Byzantine region in the ninth century.
The schnitzel has undergone many incarnations since then.
The Moors who conquered the Iberian Peninsula passed the recipe on to the Spaniards. They passed it on to the Italians.
The Italians transferred it to the Austrians.
In each incarnation, the recipe had changed and updated according to the local ingredients.
Different versions of schnitzel can be found almost everywhere in the world.
The schnitzel makes aliyah to Israel
When the immigrants from Austria and Germany came to Israel, they wanted to eat their wiener schnitzel, but there was a problem. There were no white veal in Israel, and if there were any, their price would be sky-high.
With no other options, the immigrants converted the white veal meat with chicken or turkey breast.
And that’s how the Zionist schnitzel that we all know and love was born.
How much do the Israelis like their schnitzel? Very much!
Israel is ranked at the top of the OECD in chicken consumption, with 57 kg of chicken per capita per year.
Impressive.
There are many variations to the schnitzel.
Since the days of the aliyah, the schnitzel had evolved, and many new variations had been developed: thin schnitzel, thick schnitzel, bite-size schnitzels, schnitzel coated with white bread crumbs, schnitzel coated with golden bread crumbs, schnitzel coated with herbs, schnitzel coated with panko, schnitzel coated with sesame and more.
Chicken breast – thin or thick schnitzel?
Schnitzel lovers are divided into two: people who love thin schnitzels and people who love thick schnitzels.
For the people who love thin schnitzels – the meat is just a means of supporting the crispy and crunchy coating of the schnitzel.
People who love thin schnitzel will prefer thin slices of chicken breast and will pound the meat until it becomes thin as possible to ensure the maximum surface area for coating.
In contrast, the people who love thick schnitzels – love their schnitzel thick, juicy, and wrapped in a crispy coating.
Thick schnitzel lovers will cut the chicken breast into thick slices so that the meat stays juicier and does not dry out in the frying process.
The result will be a juicy schnitzel with a slightly less crispy coating than that of the thin schnitzel because the water vapor released from the meat during the frying process creates a slightly less crispy coating.
What do you prefer? Choose for yourself.
Whole chicken breast schnitzel or bite-size schnitzel?
The technique we use to make the whole schnitzel or bite-size schnitzel is the same, and so is the recipe.
The only difference is if we use the whole chicken breast or cut it down into bite-size pieces.
Usually children will prefer Bite-size schnitzels over a whole schnitzel.
Something the size of the bite-size schnitzels works better for them.
To coat the chicken breast with flour or not?
The use of flour to coat the chicken breast before it is dipped in the batter has two purposes:
helping the batter stick on the chicken breast and aid in the absorption of moisture that is released from the meat while it is being cooked.
My recommendation is to coat the chicken breast with flour.
I use white flour to coat the schnitzels.
I have also heard of people who are willing to swear that matzah flour is the perfect flour for schnitzel.
I have also heard of people using cornflour and even potato flour.
Feel free to experiment with different flours.
The secret is in the batter
The secret to delicious schnitzel lies in the batter. It is where we add all the flavors to the schnitzel.
Feel free to experiment with different seasonings of the batter:
Use different spices like smoked paprika, dried onion, or cumin. Use different mustards. Replace the honey with maple syrup or date honey. Add dry herbs like oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc.
The Schnitzel coating
Another important ingredient in making the perfect schnitzel is the coating of the schnitzel.
Today, there is a wide variety of schnitzel coating mixes on the market: white bread, golden bread crumbs, spicy bread crumbs, sesame bread crumbs, panko (Japanese bread crumbs), and bread crumbs made from Grissini (Italian breadsticks).
I have used white bread crumbs for years, but recently due to my kid’s preference, I switched the white bread crumbs to the golden bread crumbs.
Schnitzel that kids and adults love
Schnitzel that kids and adults love
Ingredients
- 700 grams Chicken breast
- 3 cups Golden breadcrumbs
- 2 cups White flour
- Cooking oil for frying
For the batter:
- 4 Eggs
- 1 tbsp plain yellow musterd
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 level tablespoon Kosjer salt
- 2 Clove of garlic crushed
- ½ tbsp Grounded black pepper
- ½ tbsp Sweet paprika If you want spicy schnitels switch to hot paprika
Instructions
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Set all the ingridiants.
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Place all the ingridiants of the batter in a bowl.
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Whisk the batter througlly.
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Place the flour and chicken breast in a large bowl.
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Mix well until all the chicken breast is coated in flour.
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Transfer the chicken breast to a fine mesh strainer. Shake the chicken breast in a strainer to get rid of the excess flour. If you do not have a strainer, you can just shake off the excess flour by shaking the chicken breast with your fingers.
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Transfer the floured chicken breast to a bowl with the egg batter.
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Mix the chicken breast in the egg batter until it is all well coated.
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Pick up the chicken breast from the batter with your hand. Let the excessive batter drip off the chicken breast and transfer it to a bowl with the bread crumbs.
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Mix well until all the schnitzels are well coated in the bread crumbs. If necessary, sprinkl some more bread crumbs in order to achieve perfect coating.
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Fill a pan with 2 centimeters of oil. heat the oil to 180C - 190 (356F - 374F) on high.
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Check if the oil is hot enough. Throw a bread crumb into the oil. If bubbles begin to form around the bread crumb - the oil is hot. If not - wait a little longer.
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When the oil is hot, shake off the excessive bread crumbs from the schnitzels and put them in the frying pan. It is important to fry the schnitzels in several rounds to avoid dropping the oil temperature.
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Fry the schnitzels for 3-4 minutes. It is important to turn the schnitzels from side to side quickly, several times during frying.
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When the schnitzels are golden, remove them from the pan to a plate lined with paper towels.
Let the paper towels absorb the excess fat for a minute or two, and the schnitzels are ready to serve.
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If you are making the schnitzels in advance, it is recommended that you transfer them from the paper towels to a cooling rack. The cooling rack allows the water vapor from the schnitzels to evaporate without damaging the schnitzels' coating. This way, your schnitzels will remain crispier and tastier.
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Serve the schnitzels with ketchup, mayonnaise, and sweet chili sauce.
