Schnitzel
Homemade schnitzel in our home has hero status. There is no food we love more as a family, especially fresh from the frying pan.
Schnitzel, the idea of coating a thin piece of meat in breadcrumbs and frying it finds its origin in central Europe. Non-Jews would often cook pork, veal, and beef in this way. But most Jews seem to have preferred using poultry for this dish. When the German Jews started settling in Israel in the 1920s and 30s, they introduced Israel to the schnitzel. From that point forward it becomes a staple of Israeli cuisine. Found on many restaurant menus, in the frozen food section of the supermarket and as street food.
There is nothing challenging about making schnitzel, it’s just a bit time consuming – yet the rewards – adulation from your housemates – is totally worth the effort.
*To make your own seasoned bread crumbs see recipe below.
- 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) skinless boneless chicken breast
- (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 250g (2 ½) cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Vegetable oil to fry
Using a sharp knife, cut the chicken breast through the thickness (if the breast is laying flat on your cutting board you want to be slicing horizontally so that you have a flat wide piece of chicken when you are done).
Prepare an assembly line, place the prepared chicken pieces on a plate, and lightly season with salt. Next, place the flour in a shallow bowl and season the flour lightly with salt and pepper. In the next shallow bowl add the beaten eggs and season them as well, lightly with salt and pepper. In the last bowl place the seasoned bread crumbs.
Dredge the seasoned chicken in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess flour, next dip into the seasoned beaten egg, before dipping into the seasoned breadcrumbs.
In a large frying pan heat about ½ cm of vegetable oil until shimmering, add the coated chicken to the hot oil and fry, turning once until cooked through, about 5-8 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.
Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. And repeat with remaining chicken.
Seasoned breadcrumbs:
This recipe will make twice what you need for the schnitzel recipe above. Reserve the left over bread crumbs for the next time you make schnitzel, it’s also a great combination for fried fish.
- 5 cups plain breadcrumbs
- 1 ½ teaspoon parsley flakes, crushed
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oregano, crushed
- ¾ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
Combine all the ingredients, in an airtight container, mix well and reserve until use. Breadcrumbs will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 months.
