Oven “Fried” Chicken
You’ll need a baking sheet for this recipe. It’s so easy you can get children involved. Feel free to experiement with the flavour of yogurt.
Ingredients
14 Chicken drumsticks (You can do this with chicken legs too, just not so many)
1 Cup of plain or vanilla yogurt
1 Cup of all-purse flour
1 Cup of Italian style breadcrumbs
1 TSP cayenne pepper
1 TSP salt
Pepper and other dry herbs, to taste
(You can also add crushed nuts. I like pistachio, personally.)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.
This is going to be MESSY. Dip chicken in yogurt, rubbing in with hands. Try not to put thick layers on, but thin, even layers.
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Drench chicken in the dry stuff until evenly coated. Brush a baking sheet down with oil, and lay chicken out evenly. Pop it into the oven for about 20 minutes, and it’s done!
It’s great finger-food, healthier than its fried counterpart, and the skin actually turns out crispy. The yogurt keeps the chicken moist and keeps the breadcrumbs from burning in high-heat.
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:12 pm
I have definitely got to try the yogurt thing. I do flour –> eggs –> crumbs, which is tasty enough but I can never get a nice crisp crust in an oven.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:37 pm
I’m going to try this one tonight. I read this at a good time, as I was making a quick grocery list. I think I’ll try this with thighs. I wonder though, how much more cooking time is needed, as they are obviously thicker?
May 4th, 2006 at 11:35 am
MK…*psst* The egg and crumbs thing would work if you broil it. Throw it on the top rack under the broiler, flip after 3 minutes (or it’d burn) then turn the heat down the 375 and cook for 20 minutes.
Chicken thighs - actually, it doesn’t take any longer. 20 minutes will do. However, if you want to be really on the safe side, use one of those meat thermometers and look for an internal temp of 170.
May 7th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
yogurt works just as well when preparing juicy fried chickens (japanese style Kaarage)
1 tablespoon scoop of yogurt onto ~600-800 g chicken pieces (1.5^3 inch pieces) marinated or otherwise
Meaty bits from drumsticks taste best
Mix chicken pieces in the yogurt in a mixing bowl. You may use chopsticks to avoid a mess. Allow thin, even layers, or as long as its not thick and dripping
Sit chicken and yogurt mix for 10 mins
Cooking oil heated to 160 deg celsius
Bump off excess yogurt on side of mixing bowl
Cover chicken pieces in flour (Asian culinary usually use Tapioca flour- which has a lighter feel than normal corn flour). Convenient to have a baking pan with flour, less mess.
Fry chicken pieces in oil until golden brown
…The yogurt layer seals moisture and juices in the chicken pieces while cooking
May 7th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
I try to avoid breadcrumbs, esp when frying, as they’re the worst culprits that trap oil in food
may also try japanese style tempura batter, if prepared properly, tempura batter traps the least oil while staying light and crunchy
May 8th, 2006 at 9:55 am
When it’s actual real fry chicken (not the fake, oil-less kind) my mom used cornstarch.
It gives you the kind of crisp, light as air coating that you get with Chinese restaurant fried chicken.
I’ve been nagging the bf to get a deep fryer but he’s saying that his arteries said no.
May 13th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I would love to use yogurt more often but they cost a bomb in Asian countries.
Any good substitutes for yogurt? Or maybe I should just make my own yogurt and store them. Wonder if they store well. Research time!
May 14th, 2006 at 12:02 am
by the way - will normal breadcrumbs do? What’s the difference between italian and other kinds of breadcrumbs? ^_^
May 14th, 2006 at 12:05 am
http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/hesguide/foodnut/gh1183.htm
If interested in home made yogurts.
May 15th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
“Italian Style” breadcrumbs is actually a mixture of breadcrumbs, parmasean cheese, herbs (like dried basil). Technically, you could roll your own, but it’s only a little more expensive than normal breadcrumbs, and adding parmesean myself will cost quite a lot more.
Come to think of it, I never did have much yogurt when I lived in the HK. How much does it cost?
May 16th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
Not really sure but at my place. It would be US4.7 per litre - for the unflavoured ones.
May 24th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
hmm interesting..i like it !!
May 25th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Wow- I’m excited to try this receipe! Thanks for posting. I love to put youqurt in things. Mainly I put it in soups like red pepper or even tomato soup and than sprinkle with cayenne pepper for that hot sour and cool flavor.
May 26th, 2006 at 8:16 am
I will definitely try this out! Thanks for posting!
May 26th, 2006 at 10:21 am
hi sally.. great blog.. ive been cooking and baking for the past 12yrs now, little that i know..its the yogurt pala dat kips the chix moist and tender.. hmm. thanks
keep it up…
May 26th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
I tried this receipe and it came out really good. Very moist and surprisingly tasting like fried chicken even though it isn’t fried. I used chicken thighs with the bone in, for whatever reason I had to cook for an extra ten minutes (maybe the bone-in or the thigh?) it came out perfect! Thanks again.