Chicken Steak, Made in a Frying Pan

The Dish blends we recommend for this recipe. Dish Symphony No.1 Dish Symphony No.2 Dish Symphony No.3

Chicken steak: very easy, and a real treat.
This is the first thing we would suggest making once you have a jar of Dish.

It has picked up a nickname among the mothers in our neighbourhood: “the dish the adults never get to taste.” Children love it and finish it off before anyone else gets a look in.

There are two ways to make chicken steak

This recipe covers the frying pan method. There is also a recipe for making it in the oven.

• The oven lets you ignore the heat control, gives a crisp finish, and cooks two or three pieces at once.
• The frying pan takes a little skill with the heat and is harder to get crisp, but you can casually cook a single piece and make the most of flavours such as butter.

If we had to choose, the oven is easier and the one we would recommend. The frying pan is for the more experienced cook.

Ingredients (per piece of chicken thigh)

• Chicken thigh: 1 piece
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Dish: 1 tsp
• Salt: the weight of the meat in grams x 0.8%
• Butter: 20g

A guide to the salt (the amount of salt really matters in this recipe) 150g: [150 x 0.8%] = 1.2g 200g: [200 x 0.8%] = 1.6g 250g: [250 x 0.8%] = 2g 300g: [300 x 0.8%] = 2.4g

Preparation

• Pierce the chicken thigh in several places with a fork, or with the tip of a knife.
• Slice the garlic.

Method

1. Coat both sides of the chicken thigh evenly and thoroughly, using half of the 1 tsp of Dish and half of the salt on each side.
   
   
   
   
2. Put 20g of butter into the frying pan and set it over medium heat.
   
   
3. Once the butter has fully melted, add the sliced garlic, and when it turns crisp, lift it out onto kitchen paper and set aside.
   
   
4. Lay the chicken thigh in the pan skin side down and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
   
   
   
   

   A technique for crisp skin Lay baking paper or foil over the meat and put a weight on top. The contact between the pan and the meat becomes even, and the skin cooks up crisp.

   
   
   
5. Turn it over and cook for a further 5 minutes.
   
   

   While it cooks, spoon the chicken fat and butter that has collected in the pan back over the meat. It keeps the chicken juicy and lets you enjoy all of the savoury flavour. This is the French technique known as arroser.

   
   

   As a guide, it is done when you press the surface of the meat with a finger and it feels firm and springy. You can also push in a toothpick, leave it for about 5 seconds and touch it to your lip: if it feels cold, keep cooking a little longer.

   
   
   
6. Take it out, let it rest for about 5 minutes, then slice, arrange on a plate and serve.