Cooking Tender Chicken Breast Meat
One of the biggest challenges in cooking chicken breast meat is to make sure that it remains tender, juicy and tasty. This is because chicken breast meat is lean and tough meat and could become stringy and dry if not prepared properly. However, it is also the healthiest part of the chicken as it has less fat and contains mostly lean meat without the skin. One will need to use marinade and cooking techniques to produce great tender delicious chicken breast meat.
Even if you have a great chicken recipe, it will all go to waste if you overcooked the chicken and ended up with dry and stringy meat. The only way to cook chicken breast meat is to make sure that the duration it was placed over the fire to be just nice. Too long, it would become tough, dry and stringy. Too fast, it will be partially uncooked. So, there is a technique to it.
There are several ways to prepare the breast meat. You could stir fry it or roast it or bake it for a healthier option. Or if you don’t mind the extra calories, or fat, you could deep fry it too. However you want to prepare it, you must always remember to add some flavors to it with a great marinade from your recipe. If you really want some tender chicken breast meat, tenderize it. Although you can always get a bottle of tenderizer, often used for steaks, but you could always go natural and avoid the commercial stuff. Try marinating the chicken pvernight with apple juice and you will get the same effect.
You can also choose to use buttermilk as a marinade especially if you are planning to deep-fry the chicken. Buttermilk produces nice juicy chicken meat too. If you are baking or roasting the chicken, then you should ensure you set the oven temperature to medium or moderate only. The cooking time should be between 15 minutes to 30 minutes only depending on the size and amount of chicken you are cooking. Remember to check on it often to make sure it is not overcooked!
Now, if you plan to try you hand at stir-fried chicken, it is always best to slice the chicken meat into small, thin pieces so that the meat cooks easily and thoroughly. It will also save you time and spare you from overcooking it. A stir fry chicken recipe I can share with you is ‘Stir-Fried Mushrooms Chicken’. First, you season the chicken with some soy sauce and pepper. Then, you sautee some garlic till fragrant. Add sliced brown mushrooms and stir-fry for about a minute or so. Then you throw in the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Make sure the heat is maintained at medium low. Once the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked and you can remove from heat immediately.
It may seem that cooking chicken breast meat is difficult but it is great for dieters as it is low in fat and high in proteins. It can be prepared for lunch or dinner and it is pretty versatile as it can be prepared in many different ways. As long as you learn the correct techniques in locking in the moisture and keeping it tender, chicken breast meat is a great low fat choice of protein.