Chef notes
Kataifi, made from shredded phyllo dough, provides an excellent crunchy crust for chicken cutlets. It adds so much more crispy goodness to schnitzel. The creamy, nutty, spicy schug tehina adds a hit of heat to the dish, which was adapted from the menu of my new Brooklyn restaurant, K’Far.
You can typically find kataifi in the Middle Eastern section of a supermarket or order it online.
Swap option: Canola oil, peanut oil, safflower oil and vegetable oil can all work, but I would not use avocado oil.
Special equipment: Food processor.
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 (16-ounce) jar tehina (aka tahini)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1-1½ cups ice water
- 1/2 pound stemmed serrano chiles
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups finely chopped kataifi (1/2-inch strands)
- 1/2 cup canola oil, as needed
- sea salt, for serving
Preparation
For the tehina:
1.Nick off a piece of the garlic (about a quarter of the clove) and drop it into a food processor.
2.Squeeze the lemon juice into the food processor. Pour the tehina on top, making sure to scrape it all out of the container, and add the salt and cumin.
3.Process until the mixture looks peanut buttery, about 1 minute.
4.Stream in the ice water, a little at a time, with the motor running. Process just until the mixture is smooth and creamy and lightens to the color of dry sand.
For the schug:
1.Combine the serrano chiles and kosher salt in a food processor and process until smooth.
2.Transfer to a bowl and stir in lemon juice, canola oil and ground coriander.
3.Taste and add more salt if needed. This keeps, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 weeks.
4.Mix together 1 cup of tehina sauce and 1 tablespoon of schug in a small bowl. Taste and add salt and a squeeze of lemon juice as needed. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to a week.
For the schnitzel:
1.Using a meat pounder, pound both chicken breasts until thin.
2.Season chicken breasts liberally with salt on both sides, 1 teaspoon per breast.
3.Add 1/2 cup of flour to a plate, whisk one egg in a bowl, and place kataifi strands on a plate.
4.Roll chicken breasts in flour, pat out any extra flour, submerge in egg wash then roll in kataifi.
5.Fill a Dutch oven with 1/2 inch of oil for frying. Bring the oil to 350 F.
6.Fry the schnitzel until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165 F, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
7.Remove from the pan and drain on a resting rack or on a plate with paper towels.
8.Plate with a sprinkle of sea salt and serve with the schug tehina on the side.
