The great epicure and writer Joseph Wechsberg once wrote that the hallmark of a good schnitzel was the absence of a grease stain on your pants if you sat on it. Why anyone would sit on a schnitzel is a mystery to me, but the principle stands, that the ideal thin fried cutlet must be perfectly crisp without being at all greasy.
I wouldn’t sit on Christian Reynoso’s schnitzel-like chile crisp chicken cutlets either, but I’m sure they’d pass the Wechsberg test if I did. Christian puts a clever spin on the recipe. After marinating the chicken in chile crisp, soy sauce and vinegar, that same mixture is added to the eggs, giving the cutlets a fiery boost of flavor. With their crackling golden crust and tender interiors, these cutlets are well worth heating up a pot of oil for.
FEATURED RECIPE
Chile Crisp Chicken Cutlets
Here’s a meatless way to showcase your chile crisp: Ali Slagle’s one-pot tofu and broccoli rice. In it, she stirs together chile crisp, peanut butter and a dash of soy sauce as a coating for the tofu, which is layered on a pot of fluffy, gingery rice and bright-green broccoli florets. It’s an easy weeknight meal that’s on the lighter side and still very satisfying.
If you follow Ali’s work, you know she’s a big fan of chile pastes and sauces of all kinds. She makes her roasted pork tenderloin positively sing with spicy-sweet goodness by glazing it with a simple mix of harissa paste and honey, a minimalist pairing that harmonizes beautifully with the brawny, juicy meat. Serve slices of the seared pork with a tangy citrus salad for a cool and mellow contrast.
