Who loves chicken nuggets? That’s somewhat a ‘Duh..’ question, isn’t it? Back in the days, there was only one McDonalds in our hometown. So, buying chicken nuggets, especially when we were around 8-10 year old, was kind of a big deal that time. Chicken nuggets are so good.. awesome actually… until we learned the truth about McDonald’s most popular chicken nuggets *sad face*
So, why don’t we talk a little about the history of chicken nuggets? McDonald’s, surprisingly, did not invent chicken nuggets, as we all may have known for our whole life the most famous Chicken McNuggets. A food science professor at Cornell University, Robert C. Baker, invented the first chicken nuggets and started to publish his first chicken nuggets recipe in 1950s whereas McDonald’s perfected their Chicken McNuggets in 1979 and started selling them in 1980.
McDonald’s originally sold burgers but in 1977, the federal government’s first ever-dietary guidelines demanded Americans to eat less fat and red meat. As a result, McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, brainstormed for any solutions for loyal customers to keep returning. That was when the Chicken McNuggets were born. The McNuggets were first put on the menu in 15 Knoxville, Tenn., McDonald’s restaurants in March 1980 and they had made the highest sales records. Words spread from mouth to mouth and Chicken McNuggets have become everyone’s favorite snack to munch on until now.
For further reading, click on the link below to find out more about Mr. Baker J
Indeed, making your own chicken nuggets seems to require a lot of work, but it’s worth it! You know exactly what ingredients you put in your nuggets and you can be sure what you eat will truly nourish your body. I don’t want to say it’s healthier because it is still deep-fried; however, it’s the “healthier” version compared to McNuggets. Besides, it’s as addicting as the retail ones, so why waste your money for those extra preservatives that come along with store-bought nuggets?
Chicken Nugget
Serve: 18-20 pieces
Ingredients:
- 500 g of chicken breast, cut into smaller pieces
- 2 slices of bread
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbs of Parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp of pepper
- ½ tsp of salt
- 2 Tbs butter – to coat the tray and parchment paper
For deep frying:
Panko, eggs, and flour.
Instruction:
- Soak the bread in room temperature milk for app. 5 minutes; squeeze excess milk.
- In food processor, add chicken breast, breads, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Coat butter on a 10’x 12’x 2′ tray and cover with parchment paper.
- Coat butter on the parchment paper as well and pour mixture (2) into tray.
- Using a larger tray, pour some hot water to make a water bath and place the tray containing the mixture on top of the larger tray.
- Steam for approximately 30 – 45 minutes at 325 °F
- After 45 minutes, take out the smaller tray and let it cool.
- Once cooled, cut into a bit size pieces.
- 10. Store in a fridge or proceed to the next step.
To deep fry:
- Coat the chicken pieces with flour, eggs, then Panko.
- Deep fry until golden brown.
P.S: The reason why I coat butter on both the tray and parchment paper is to make sure the parchment paper stick to the tray and it helps to prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to the parchment paper. One last thing to remember, make sure the larger tray is filled half way up with hot water to make sure the chicken cooks evenly.
Sacchariferously Appetizing 