Chicken Parmigiana

Ira has been waiting patiently for me to make our favorite dish--chicken parmigiana.  We haven't had it since we left the states because I was too afraid or exhausted to cook it here.  Well, today was the day.  With a few modifications and two hours of free time while Ira was in class, I set to work.  Here's how I made it:

1.   Go to the market to grab any ingredients you don't have.  (In my case, tomatoes, garlic, and eggs.)

2.  Blanch the tomatoes (cans of diced tomatoes are hard to come by here in Vietnam, so it's less of a hassle just to do it yourself).  Ira told me later that I did it wrong, so here are the official instructions:  Heat a pot of water to a rolling boil.  On the counter next to it, get a large bowl filled with ice water.  Cut an X in the bottom of the tomatoes and place them into the boiling water for 10-20 seconds, then immediately scoop them out (with a spatula, of course) and put them in the ice water.  If you cook them too long, the tomatoes will turn to mush (mine almost did)!  If you did it somewhat correctly, the tomato skins should peel right off!

 Here's a bowl full of peeled wonderful goodness:

 3.  Next, you'll need to seed the tomatoes.  I do this by cutting them in half lengthwise and then halving the two halves.  :)  You can use a knife to cut out the middle.  It's easier if you keep the seeds somewhat intact, but don't worry if you miss a few!








4.  Next, slice the seeded tomato quarters in half again.  If you have extra, you are well on your way to having a "can" of diced tomatoes for another meal, or you could make tomato sauce (which is about $1.50 for a tiny can here in Vietnam).

Note:  if you are short on time, you can do this step another day and refrigerate it.  If you have kids, they might enjoy helping you peel the tomatoes.

 5.  Round up the essentials!  (Actually, you should make sure these items are available or can be substituted well before you begin cooking!)  I found the bread crumbs at the market--they're at 12 o' clock.  At 6 and 8 o' clock are Parmesan and mozzarella cheese found at a local western food store.  They didn't have price tags and when the clerk rang up the total, it was 425.000đ (that's over 20 USD!!!).  Needless to say, we won't be going back to that store.  At 3 o' clock is the butter (you could technically use oil instead, but I like this better).

 6.  Next, dice 1/2 an onion and a couple cloves of garlic.










 7.  Now it's time to go to the kitchen (our kitchen is outside our apartment).  Add around a tablespoon of butter to a saucepan and saute the onions and garlic.  Add the tomatoes, and a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper.  I usually dump a good amount of dried basil in also, but you can season it the way you like it.







8.  Set up your chicken-frying workstation.  Bowl #1 (left) is one beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of milk, bowl #2 is 1/3 cup of bread crumbs with a dash of oregano and pepper, along with 3-4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.  Hammer the chicken flat before you bread it.







 9.  Fry the chicken in a thick frying pan and/or the lowest heat setting you can manage with your gas range.  If you are lucky enough to have an electric burner, set it on medium and be sure to give the oil enough time to heat up.  I think oil olive has a better flavor, but we're were out.  :(  The lady at the market didn't want to slaughter a whole chicken so we could have chicken breasts, so she offered to debone the leg and thigh meat of another bird that had already been parceled out.  Anything to avoid the supermarket!  (Think Walmart on black Friday without the lines.)

10.  Heat the tomato mixture back up to boiling (the other burner stopped working so I had to wait for the chicken to finish).  If you're not picky about your tomato/marinara sauce, you can always buy it from the store (you'll pay a lot less if you do this in the states, but if you do it here in Vietnam, you'd better know in advance that it tastes good! $$$$)






11. Flip the chicken.  This is about the color you should expect on the breading.  I usually cut in the middle to make sure it's done (not pretty, but hey, I don't have a microwave)!









12.  Place the chicken on a plate, add the tomato mixture.  Sprinkle Parmesan and mozzarella cheese over the tomato mixture.  Eat it while it's hot!  (If you are lucky enough to have a microwave, I'd wait until after I placed the cheese on top to nuke it...melted cheese is ALWAYS better.)  If you are worried about presentation, you may want to drain the tomato juice