Styrian Breaded Chicken Salad
- Classics
- Meat
- main-course
The "Steirischer Backhendlsalat" is a speciality of Styria, a province called the 'green heart' of Austria. This dish features a staple in Styrian cuisine, its famous pumpkin seed oil – also known as the 'green gold' of Styria.
Method
- Preparation time: 60 min
- 4 Portions
Debone the drumstick by taking off the skin and cutting the meat from the bone with a sharp knife. Cut the breast or drumstick meat into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Season well with salt and leave to stand, covered, for around 1 hour (if short on time, the marinading stage can be omitted).
Meanwhile, for the marinade, stir the mustard into a little of the slightly warmed stock until smooth, and then mix in the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and mix with the pumpkin seed oil. Sample it to check the taste. Clean and wash the lettuce and leave it to drip dry, or use a salad spinner.
Beat the eggs briefly on a plate or in a bowl, with the flour and breadcrumbs ready on two more plates. Now roll the chicken pieces in the flour to coat them, dip them in the beaten egg, and coat them with breadcrumbs.
Heat a good amount of clarified butter or plant oil in a pan. Place the chicken pieces into the hot fat and, depending on size, cook for 3 - 7 minutes until golden brown, turning once. Remove and allow to drain on kitchen paper.
Meanwhile, marinade the dried lettuce and arrange the leaves in the centre of large serving plates. Place the crispy chicken pieces on (or even better, around) the salad immediately before serving. Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes and serve with crisp rolls or pumpkin seed bread.
Tip: Enjoy some freshly baked pastries or pumpkin seed bread with the salad.
Ingredients
The reason Styrian fried chicken is particularly famous has a lot to do with "Sulmtal poultry". From the 17th century, the particularly fleshy capons and poulards known as Sulmtalm poultry proved highly popular at many a high table amongst the nobility of Europe. During the Habsburg monarchy, these delicious broiler chickens were even supplied to markets on the far side of the Alps, as far away as Trieste and Marburg.