Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 281 193: Crispy Fried Chicken Fillet, Octopus Rice Cake Balls

The moment he saw the recipe image, he knew he hadn't made a mistake in redeeming it. This was exactly the Chicken Fillet he wanted, the kind sold on street carts when he was a child.

It's not covered in breadcrumbs or some other crispy coating, just simply a layer of powder.

Originally, he thought the outside was coated in flour or something, but it wasn't; it was purely cornstarch, with a little bit of baking powder added.

The marination of the Chicken Fillet also requires special techniques. Since it's made of chicken breast, if the marinating isn't done well, the fried Chicken Fillet will turn out hard and dry, lacking that tender juicy texture.

But lately, he's been doing a lot of Chinese cooking, marinating plenty of meat, so he's well aware of this. That's why he specifically set the delivery for five o'clock, allowing enough time for marination.

While waiting for the delivery truck, he didn't idle. He began preparing the marination ingredients and the cornstarch coating for the Chicken Fillet.

The coating is simple, one hundred grams of cornstarch with two grams of baking powder. Just scale up the ratio and mix evenly.

The marinade isn't complicated either, sea salt, chicken essence, monosodium glutamate, white sugar, pepper powder, five-spice powder, garlic powder, a bit of starch, and baking soda mixed evenly.

The flavor of this marinade powder can be adjusted at will. Increase the proportions for a stronger taste, and reduce them for lighter flavors.

He plans to sprinkle powder on the Chicken Fillet after frying, so the marinade shouldn't be too strong, just a base flavor is enough.

After finishing everything, the rolling shutter door at the back was pulled open from the outside as the cold chain truck arrived ten minutes early.

"Hey, chef, good morning!"

The delivery was by a Black guy whom he'd seen every day, and they'd become familiar faces to each other.

"Here's the fresh chicken breast you ordered, two boxes, fifty pieces per box, totaling 30 kg. Over here is the small octopus..."

After verifying the goods and ensuring everything was correct, he signed on the list. The Black guy left happily with the receipt, not forgetting to help close the rolling shutter.

Foreign chickens can be made through black technology to weigh almost the same each, with the chicken breast cut to weigh 300 grams each, larger than the 200 grams or less you'd find at the domestic market or supermarket.

Today's preparation work was all done by him alone. The kite festival opening ceremony was scheduled for ten in the morning, followed by music performances, and the food district opening was at noon, leaving him a whopping six hours for preparation.

The Chicken Fillet requires strict shape requirements; they must be cut to similar thickness and length to ensure uniform doneness during frying, preventing some from being undercooked while others are overcooked.

The whole chicken breast must first soak in water to leach out any residual blood.

With such a large quantity, just pour all the chicken breasts into the sink and submerge them in water to soak while cutting.

The membrane and excess fat on the chicken breast surface must be thoroughly removed as they affect the taste.

Slice them into three pieces horizontally and gently pound them with the knife back to reach a thickness similar to French fries.

You can clearly see the muscle grain directions when the chicken breast is sliced, with a vertical line at the three-seven position. They run differently left and right, somewhat resembling leaf veining.

This is actually the boundary between the large and small chicken breast, but it's not important; there's hardly any difference in flavor, and the Chicken Fillet isn't detailed to this extent.

To make the Chicken Fillet aesthetically pleasing, they must be sliced along the vertical line, then cut against the grain into strips.

Normally, white meat should be sliced with the grain, but Chinese cooking emphasizes adaptability; different situations require different responses.

Foreign chickens are larger in size, with older meat quality, which means the muscle connections are tighter and won't easily fall apart.

Additionally, the marination and cooking process for the Chicken Fillet doesn't involve extensive stir-frying actions, so they won't get shaken apart. In this situation, cutting against the grain definitely makes them three-times tenderer.

The previous step of gently pounding the chicken breast with the knife also contributes to a more tender texture.

It's not over yet; after slicing, the chicken breast must be mixed evenly with the marinade powder and a whole egg beaten in until cohesive.

The baking soda in the marinade powder also helps make the chicken breast even more tender, as does the egg.

During the marination of the Chicken Fillet, a large amount of clear water must be added, following the same method as marinating beef and pork – adding small amounts multiple times, mixing clockwise to a thick consistency.

If these multiple tenderizing processes don't make the chicken breast delicious, he'd immediately rush out and jump into the sea.

That being said, as a chef, necessary caution is still required.

After slicing a whole chicken breast, he began heating the oil, first frying some to taste whether it's the right flavor.

The marination time for the sliced chicken breast should be at least an hour, the longer, the better, so the marinade flavors fully penetrate the meat.

However, his taste test was for texture and frying time; the flavor was roughly there.

When the oil temperature reached about 160 degrees, he turned the heat down, tossed the marinated Chicken Fillet into a bowl mixed with cornstarch and baking powder, used his fingers to quickly stir, ensuring each fillet was evenly coated with starch, then gently shook it to let the excess starch fall off naturally.

Covered in starch, the Chicken Fillet already took on that pale look he remembered from the street carts as a child. There's no technique needed; just toss them in large handfuls into the oil to fry. No need to worry about them sticking.

The frying time is short, just about a minute, and the chicken fillet has completely turned golden yellow, floating on the surface of the oil. Using a strainer, he scoops them all out, gives them a good shake to remove excess oil, and then dumps them into a clean metal basin.

He personally loves spicy food, so he sprinkles a generous amount of spicy dry seasoning in. The surface of the golden chicken fillet still retains a sheen of oil, quickly picking up the alluring red hue of chili powder.

He picks up a bamboo skewer, taps on the surface of the chicken fillet, producing a sound that's half-crispy, half-soft. He nods with satisfaction – it's the effect he was aiming for.

The old-fashioned fried chicken fillet he had as a child felt just like this. It looked crispy and crunchy, but in reality, the surface didn't have a hard crust, just a thin layer of batter. Only areas with thick powder coating would have a texture akin to a crispy fried chicken shell.

Just by looking at it, memories buried in his mind draw out his saliva, which runs uncontrollably; he immediately picks one up and puts it in his mouth.

Eating chicken fillet means you must eat it hot; right out of the pot is the most fragrant and tender. There's no need to worry about burning your mouth; the thickness, similar to that of thick-cut fries, prevents it from holding a high temperature. A few seconds after being scooped from the pot, its temperature drops rapidly.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch"

His keen hearing amplifies the barely noticeable sound of the batter cracking, followed by a surge of scorching, flavorful juice bursting from the chicken fillet.

The saltiness is subtle, mainly relying on the surface seasoning for flavor.

The chicken fillet itself has no chicken smell. A few careful chews reveal a subtle pang of pepper spice, paired with the spicy surface seasoning, creating a truly gratifying experience.

His entire tongue and lips rejoice at this moment, trembling from the savory spicy flavor.

The drool, instead of stopping, gushes out more freely, the more he eats, the more he craves, and the sharper his appetite becomes.

The three hundred grams of chicken fillet were fried into a large plateful, yet he eliminated them cleanly in mere bites, not sparing even the small lumps left at the bottom of the basin, skewering them all with bamboo sticks and stuffing them into his mouth.

"Burp~"

He lets out a satisfied burp, yet he's still not entirely satiated.

The slightly crispy surface, the instant explosion of juice from the chicken meat once bitten into – this exquisite taste is indeed intoxicating.

The chicken fillet is tender beyond the typical breast meat texture, even softer than thigh meat multiple times over, retaining only the elasticity of the meat itself. A light bite with the teeth prompts a burst of juicy flavor, then fracture follows.

"Great, great, great, I deem this the best snack of the day!"

Despite not having set up shop yet, he seemingly can forecast a bustling sales scene.

Don't be fooled by the humble appearance of this fried chicken fillet; as long as the name stands out, foreigners will definitely buy in.

In overseas markets, fried chicken fillet has a prevalence akin to grilled sausages back home; those passing by will surely stop and buy one to try. However, overseas eateries selling fried chicken fillet are mostly fast-food outlets, sold alongside fried chicken burgers and the like.

The following time becomes somewhat monotonous, repeatedly slicing chicken fillet, slicing chicken fillet, slicing chicken fillet, until all thirty kilograms are completed.

With a stamina enhanced by Potion and prolonged training, slicing thirty kilograms of chicken fillet in one breath isn't exhausting, just that his wrist and thumb joint become slightly sore, requiring a proper rest to recover.

Once all the fillet is marinated, covered with cling wrap, and placed into the cold storage, the remaining tasks become relatively light.

The batter for octopus balls needs preparation, fresh octopus cleaned, shredded cabbage, diced mushrooms, diced carrots, and diced onions all cut up.

Aside from these ingredients, he also bought a special yet very common ingredient.

Rice cake.

Moreover, it's water-milled rice cake from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The characteristic of this rice cake is its soft, bouncy texture. Different cutting methods and shapes yield different mouthfeels; it's commonly sliced for soup or stir-fried locally, and often processed into small pieces for frying, made into crispy rice cake which also tastes superb.

This rice cake is also one of the staple foods he has eaten since childhood, with which he's closely familiar, naturally knowing how to handle it properly.

He's going to cut it into nail-sized rice cake pieces, placing them into the balls along with vegetables and octopus.

No need for much, just one piece per ball.

Once heated, the rice cake pieces soften, forming a texture similar to mozzarella cheese, yet not as greasy, imparting rich rice fragrance.

To be precise, it's probably closer to the mochi that has become popular in recent years domestically.

Putting rice cake into octopus balls is also his first attempt, a sudden burst of inspiration. He imagined the taste in his mind and felt it must be delicious.

After preparing the materials, test cooking and tasting are inevitable.

For the specially made octopus balls, well, now they need to be called octopus big balls, he brushes a layer of butter onto the molds. Once it melts and sizzles, he scoops in a little batter, enough to fill about 1/3 of the half-circle molds.

After waiting for ten seconds or so, once the batter edges have visibly solidified, he starts adding the ingredients.