How can you cook chicken to perfection? Using different parts of the chicken and pre-cooking methods will affect the flavor of the chicken.

How do you typically prepare chicken to enhance its flavor and texture? Do you often find that pan-fried chicken shrinks significantly and lacks flavor after cooking?

Preparing Chicken to Make It Taste Better: Salt It First

High-quality chicken isn’t always easy to find. To cook ordinary chicken well, you must salt it right after you get it home. Especially for bone-in chicken, try buying it the day before, rub salt all over the chicken by hand, and then refrigerate it overnight.

This extra step draws out moisture from the chicken (high-quality chicken doesn’t release much moisture, so it also gives you an opportunity to check its quality), making it more firm.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly with water before cooking (making sure to completely remove any salt and any excess moisture), then pat dry with paper towels before cooking.

Whether you’re frying, grilling, deep-frying, or steaming chicken, it’s essential to salt it beforehand to ensure it’s delicious. This step is especially crucial for broiler chicken. After salting and letting it rest overnight, the meat will taste just like free-range chicken.

Sprinkle the pre-salted chicken lightly with salt and oven-roast until golden brown on both sides. Try it and you’ll see. It’s completely different from regular chicken and is on par with the chicken skewers at yakitori shops, with a surprisingly firm and flavorful texture.

Q: Do you need to salt beef and pork?

A: I recommend salting pork and refrigerating it overnight, just like chicken. However, if it’s premium beef or pork, skip the salt and cook it directly. Muscular free-range chickens also don’t need salting, as it will make the meat firmer.

Cutting the fascia first can prevent shrinkage.

I often hear from people who say, “I can’t pan-fry chicken well.” Unexpectedly, many people complain that the chicken is either burnt on the outside but undercooked on the inside, or shrinks after frying. Every time I hear this, I always ask a question: “Did you cut the membrane and tendons before frying?”

Chicken, especially chicken thighs, is a large piece of muscle. A close look reveals that each muscle bundle is covered with a membrane. This membrane shrinks after preheating, so making a few horizontal cuts across the surface of the chicken with the tip of a knife can prevent it from shrinking significantly during frying.

Not only that, chicken also has many white tendons. It’s recommended to cut these off beforehand or cut them open halfway through frying.

Chicken with the tendons treated in this way will stay flat during frying and cook faster. Regardless of the cooking method, it’s important to cut the membrane beforehand.

Tender Meat and Crispy Skin – Pan-Fried Chicken

To easily and deliciously fry chicken, don’t forget to rub the entire piece of chicken with salt. As mentioned earlier, fresh, high-quality pork and beef can be pan-fried without salting, but chicken is different; it’s best if it’s salted the night before.

• Heat a cast iron pan and pour a little oil into it. Place the chicken skin-side down. Use a heavy object to press down on the chicken, flattening it and clinging to the pan. It doesn’t matter if you use a pot lid, a bowl, or a plate; just enough weight will do. A small pot of water will also work.
• Fry over medium-high heat. Using a heavy object prevents the skin from curling up, resulting in a crispy, delicious texture, and ensures that the fat beneath the skin is properly cooked. If you don’t want to use a heavy object, at least sear the skin side until golden brown—this is the golden rule for delicious pan-fried chicken.
• Once the skin is done, flip and continue frying. Don’t flip the chicken constantly; sear both sides once (remember to start with the skin side). If the chicken is still raw after flipping, reduce the heat and simmer until cooked through.
• A reminder: Don’t cover the pan when frying chicken. Covering the pan creates steam, which prevents the skin from getting crispy.

I like to fry my chicken until the skin is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, and then dip it in harissa.

Q: What is harissa?

A: It’s a chili-based hot sauce often added to couscous (North African millet). While it’s commercially available, I prefer to make my own. Just combine red chilies, crushed garlic, salt, and spices like cumin and coriander, then toss with olive oil. It’s also delicious as a dip for grilled fish.