Are you in the mood for a deliciously cooked juicy chicken fillet stuffed with quality creamy butter having a luscious garlic flavour? Fillet that is covered with a crispy golden coating and has amazing mouth-watering smell?
Chicken Kiev (котлета по-київськи in Ukrainian) is such a well-know and yet such a unique dish of the Ukrainian (and not only) cuisine. Taking its name after the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv (also spelled Kiev), the true origins of the dish are quite ambiguous and may actually surprise you. It turns out to have French roots, and its history may be traced as far back as to early 19th century France. It is believed that the recipe of the dish originally belonged to a French chef and the dish could be called côtelettes de volaille or poulet à la Maréchale. After borrowing the recipe to Ukraine and Russia, the Chicken Kiev gained its popularity among the visitors of the Continental hotel in Kyiv, where it probably obtained its current name.
Whatever its origins may be, Chicken Kiev is something that will always taste good and familiar. In addition, for those who are only planning to try the dish, here is the recipe to follow:
Ingredients (for two Chicken Kiev):
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets
• 50g butter (salted)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
• 1 tbsp tarragon (chopped)
• ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp flour (seasoned)
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 4 tbsp breadcrumbs (seasoned)
• Vegetable oil
Instructions:
1. Mash the butter and add garlic, herbs, and lemon juice to it. Form two medium-sized sausages and let them chill in the fridge for them not to be soft.
2. Bash chicken breast fillets with a meat tenderiser until about 0.5cm thick and season both sides.
3. Roll the fillets around the butter sausages. Freeze the cutlets for 2 hours.
4. Put the seasoned flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs into three separate plates and then roll the frozen cutlets first in flour, then in eggs, and only then in the breadcrumbs. Do it twice for each cutlet to make a double coating. Chill them in the fridge for one hour.
5. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan to 160C. Fry the cutlets for 2-3 minutes each side until the golden coating. Serve Chicken Kiev when still hot.
Sources:
Rahim L. 10 things you didn’t know about the humble chicken Kiev. The Telegraph. May 10, 2017. telegraph.co.uk. Accessed March 4, 2020.
Chicken Kiev. Wikipedia. Updated March 3, 2020. Accessed March 4, 2020.
Cloake F. How to cook the perfect chicken kiev. The Guardian. June 7, 2012. Accessed March 4, 2020.
Chicken Kievs. BBC good food. Published 2010. Accessed March 4, 2020.
Written by Iryna Verba.
Terminology Study Visitor at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament (Luxembourg). She comes from Ukraine and currently studies in the Master program Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts at the University of Luxembour