A firm favourite in the Hungarian home usually made on the weekend or at family celebration. The type of meat can vary, most popular being pork, chicken or even veal which is a very similar dish to Veal Milanese.
This tender meat with a crispy coat goes very well with the buttery parsley potatoes and pickled red cabbage. Also served with chips, mashed potato, rice, rizi-bizi and pickled gherkins or green salad.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 600g chicken breast
- 200g fine breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons of milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 200g flour
- 500ml sunflower oil
How to make
- Flatten the chicken breasts by beating the pieces of meat. Every household in Hungary had a meat tenderiser hammer in the now retro era, my childhood, these days less so. One other method is to place the meat between two large pieces of clingfilm and gently pound with a rolling-pin. The meat just needs to be stretched a little and not beaten to a pulp. Season the meat with salt and freshly milled black pepper on each side.
- Crack the eggs into a dish and lightly beat them together with a splash of milk and some salt.
- Tip the breadcrumbs on to a large plate, on another plate the flour seasoned with salt and freshly milled black pepper.
- Dip each piece of flattened and seasoned chicken breast into the flour, then the beaten egg and then into the breadcrumbs. Shake off the excess breadcrumbs and lift the breaded piece onto yet another clean plate.
- Fry the meat on a gentle heat 3-4 minutes on each side or till crisp and golden brown.
- Drain on kitchen paper, and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the other pieces.
- Serve with buttery parsley potatoes.
Tip
Give the meat a garlic &milk marinade for incredible tenderness and mega tasty flavour. Finely chop 3 cloves of garlic and rub the chicken pieces on both side with it. Place the meat pieces in a shallow dish and just cover with milk. Chill for a few hours, even better, overnight in the fridge. Pat dry the pieces with a paper towel before use.
My mom used to make this chicken but the pieces were not flattened nor were they boneless. after breading and frying, they were placed in a steamer, steamed for about 25 minutes, and then cooled on wax paper and eaten cold the next day for picnics and outings. Would the name of this dish be the same in Hungarian as you have above? Rántott hús?? thanks, Ed Snyder
Yes, Hungarians call flattened cutlets of all kinds of meat also breaded chicken wings and drumsticks the same,”rántott hús”. 🙂👍
I’m a bit troubled by this description because Huz is meat, generally pork or beef. You might call it Rántott csirke but if we want to be clear, it’s Becsi szalat (Besc being Vienna and szalat being slice), or as Americans call it, Wienerschnitzel. For truly exceptional results the chicken has to be thin, like less than 5mm. I slice the breast thin because pounding with a mallet destroys the structure of the meat and you end up with an unusual mouth feel. Second, the chicken needs to be seasoned prior to coating. Liberally sprinkle the slice with superfine salt and pepper. NOT fresh ground pepper but finely ground processed black pepper. This tip takes the schnitzel to another level. The risk of not taking these steps is that you might as well go and buy McNuggets.