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 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.
Now, if you are thinking of deep-frying the chicken for some crunchy chicken fingers, you could also choose to use buttermilk as marinade. Buttermilk is also another natural tenderizer. Next, we talk about how you cook the chicken. When you are grilling it or baking it in the oven, remember to keep the temperature at moderate and set the cooking time to shorter periods. All you need to do is to pop the chicken in and set it at maybe, 15 minutes cooking time and then check on it. If it is cooked by then, remove from the oven. The cooking time varies according to the size and amount of chicken you are cooking.
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.
Although the chicken breast meat could prove to be a challenge to cook, it is low in fat, packed with proteins and is great for lunch and dinner. It suits those on a diet and those watching their weight very well and that's not all, it is pretty versatile. Chicken breast meat can be cooked any way you like and as long as it is done correctly, it will be tasty, healthy and best of all, low in fat!
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