Miyazaki Chicken Nanban

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts, about 600 g in total
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 600 ml neutral oil, for frying
• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 dried red chilli
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 onion, very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped cornichons or rakkyo pickles
• 5 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 tsp rice vinegar, for the tartare
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• Shredded cabbage and lemon wedges, to serve

Before you cook

• Butterfly each chicken breast open and cut it in half to give four even, flat pieces.
• Season the chicken all over with the salt and white pepper.
• Put the chopped onion in a sieve, rinse it under cold water and squeeze it dry to take off the raw edge.
• Chop the hard-boiled eggs, cornichons and parsley.

Steps

1. Put the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, mirin and whole chilli in a small pan and bring them to the boil.
2. Simmer the sauce for 1 minute, until the sugar has dissolved, then pour it into a shallow dish wide enough to hold the chicken.
3. Stir the chopped egg, onion, cornichons, mayonnaise, teaspoon of vinegar and parsley together, and season the tartare with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170C.
5. Dust each piece of chicken in flour and shake off every loose speck.
6. Dip the floured chicken in the beaten egg so it is thickly coated, and use no breadcrumbs at all, since that is what separates this from a cutlet.
7. Lower two pieces into the oil and fry for 4 minutes.
8. Turn them over and fry for another 3 minutes, until deep gold and cooked through.
9. Lift the chicken straight into the nanban sauce and turn it twice, giving it about 30 seconds so it drinks up the vinegar while still hot.
10. Move the coated chicken to a board and fry the second batch the same way.
11. Slice the chicken into thick fingers and lay it over shredded cabbage.
12. Spoon the tartare over the top and serve with a lemon wedge.