No fry oven baked "fried" chicken drumsticks

Fried chicken is always delicious. But the frying makes a mess, makes the kitchen smell, and sometimes you don't want that in the house. Wanting to explore an alternative was the reason behind trying to make a no fry version of fried chicken.  

I received a request for this recipe after posting a photo of the finished dish on social media. It was a bit of an experiment, which is why there are no step-by-step photos.

Panko breadcrumbs are Japanese breadcrumbs which are light, large and fluffy. You can get them in Japanese grocers and many Chinese grocers too (many have a "Japanese corner"). If you have never cooked with them, they are rather wonderful, and they are, to me, the best breadcrumbs you can buy.

Some people's eyebrows might be raised by the use of Asian chicken bouillon. It really is a hero ingredient. We are using a Knorr Vietnamese bouillon right now. But Ajinomoto make a Japanese chicken bouillon which is available in See Woo and other far eastern grocers. Unless you actually have a tested, provable allergy to MSG, the chances are you are not going to be adversely affected by it. In fact, it is used to flavour many mass produced food items, including Pringles crisps. You have probably been eating it for years without realising it.

MSG has been unfairly demonised, and the academic studies suggest, for the vast majority of people, it has no harmful effects. Perhaps that is a matter for a blog post of the future. I spent a very illuminating day going through the many scientific papers reviewing the evidence after the initial, purely anecdotal and non-scientific paper by Dr RHM Kwok in New England Journal of Medicine in 1968. Such a paper would not now be accepted by a contemporary medical/scientific/academic journal today.

If you are still worried, please note that the glutamic acid which is the basis of MSG is naturally occurring in some of the most delicious and umami rich foods: seaweed, aged parmesan, anchovies, miso, cured meats and ripe tomatoes.

If you refuse to entertain the use of Asian chicken bouillon, then perhaps you could use Marigold organic vegetarian bouillon. Or perhaps you might add a little more salt. 

No fry oven baked "fried" chicken drumsticks

Ingredients:

5-6 chicken drumsticks, skin on

1 egg

5 tablespoons plain flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Asian chicken bouillon (or Marigold veggie bouillon)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

20g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C for a fan oven. Usually that means 20 degrees C higher for a non fan oven, but you may need to be more diligent about checking during the cooking at 210 degrees C.

2. Crack the egg and beat into a bowl large enough to fit a single chicken drumstick, and set aside.

3. On a large plate, place the flour, salt, paprika, bouillon powder, pepper and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. 

4. Take the butter and melt in a foil lined baking tray with sides (or similar) in your preheated oven. Remove from the oven when melted. Don't burn the butter. 

5. Take each chicken drumstick, wipe dry with a piece of kitchen paper or a scrupulously clean tea towel, coat in the egg, and roll around the breadcrumb mix. Place on a clean dry plate.

6. When they are all coated in egg and breadcrumbs, put on the baking tray sitting in the melted butter, and place it in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes, then turn. Then cook another 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!