Ways To Cook 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.
It will never do to have the best chicken recipe but end up with tough overcooked chicken that are stringy, dry and hard to chew. The secret to cooking chicken breast meat is in the way it was cooked and how long it was cooked. Of course, the meat has to be thoroughly cooked but overcooking it could render it dry, tough and inedible.
There are plenty of different ways to cook chicken breast meat, either you bake it, roast it, stir fry it or even deep fry it. Whatever way you choose to cook it, you must first remember that marinade is also important to add flavors to it according to whatever recipe you have on hand. Then, if you really want tender chicken breast meat, then you will need to tenderize it, either with a mallet or with through another means, marinade. You could use the commercial bottled marinade or you could marinade the chicken in apple juice overnight and you’d get soft, tender chicken breast meat.
Otherwise, if you are thinking of deep-frying it for some crunchy chicken treats, then using buttermilk is as good a tenderizer as any for tender, soft and juicy meat. The next trick is when you cook the chicken. If you are baking or grilling it, you will have to be careful to ensure the temperature is not set too high so as not to overcook the chicken. It is best to keep it at medium to medium high instead of at high temperature. Also, do set the cooking time at a shorter time-frame instead of longer. If it is not completely cooked, you can always pop it back into the oven for another round of baking but if it is overcooked, it will be too late.
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.