Kotleta Po Kyivsky (Chicken Kyiv)
Chicken Kyiv is one of those retro recipes – it’s over 100 years old – that never go out of fashion.
The dish itself might look humble and unpretentious from the outside, but it definitely has a lot to offer inside – well, just like the city of Kyiv itself.
Known well beyond the capital, this chicken fillet is a signature dish of Ukraine.
Simple ingredients, easy to cook, nutritious value, and great goes well with a host of other dishes – that’s not even a complete list of what kotleta po Kyivsky can boast of.
And tasting it is just magical. As you cut the crunchy golden filler with your knife, the hot butter – sprinkled with finely chopped greens –drips out, saucing the entire piece generously and making its way to the salad on your plate. It’s like eating that classy French melting chocolate dessert, only meat based.
Kotleta po Kyivsky (Chicken Kyiv)
Ingredients
- 2 (¾ lb) pcs fillet chicken breast
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic
- 2-3 twigs fresh parsley
- 2 eggs
- ½ (2.5 oz) cup bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
- hot peppers
- sunflower oil
Instructions
How to Make Kotleta po Kyivsky (Chicken Kyiv):
- Mix the butter with the finely chopped greens and a clove of minced garlic until smooth.
- Add a pinch of salt and hot pepper.
- Spread the mixture on cling film or parchment and shape it into a 4-inch-long cylinder. Leave in the freezer until firm.
- Cut the chicken fillets into stripes. Thoroughly clean off the tendons. You’re expected to have two small and two large fillet parts out of two solid fillet pieces. Process them in a meat tenderizer.
- Place the butter into the small fillet and the small fillet into the large fillet to prevent the butter leaking out.
- Pound the chicken thoroughly with a meat mallet. Be careful not to tear the chicken fillet. The end result should be 0.2-inch-thick pieces.
- Place the thin chicken pieces on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Remove the butter mixture from the freezer and divide into halves.
- Put one piece onto the chicken fillet and carefully wrap the butter in.
- The Kyiv-style fillet should have an elliptical shape, without protrusions. Repeat the same for all the chicken pieces.
- Place in the freezer again and wait until firm. Remove and roll all over in flour.
- In a plate, whisk two eggs, salt, and pepper. Soak each chop in this mixture then roll generously in breadcrumbs.
- Pour sunflower oil into the frying pan and heat well.
- Fry 2-3 minutes on both sides. It will give the chicken fillet a nice crust without burning the breadcrumbs.
- Transfer the fillet from the pan into the baking tin and bake them in a preheated oven (392 °F) for 20 minutes.
- The chicken Kyiv is ready to serve. You may want to complement it with salad. Bon appetite!
