Panko Breaded Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce

I'm exhausted. It's a fact. We're teething. I say “we” because even though I'm not physically teething, I am right along there with Moira who is. Since Moira was about 3 1/2 months old she has been a champ sleeper at an average of 10 hours a night! I repeatedly told myself “Don't get used to this. It won't last.” And it hasn’t. And I didn’t do a very good job coaching myself to believe that either. So, now we’re waking up at least once in the middle of the night, sometimes more. Also, we’re in the middle of a remodel/addition on our house, which has been at a standstill until just a few days ago, so construction time begins right around 8am. Meaning that if I want a shower (and I do), I need to be up and done before construction begins. All this combined makes for some short sleep periods.

So with all this in mind, I’ve been doing EASY dinners. We’ve dined out a couple times, cleaned to fridge out of leftovers, had quick sandwiches, and some really easy, but delicious chicken! Coated in breadcrumbs and baked, topped with sauce and accompanied with a couple sides. Mmmm, I have made this chicken twice in the last week and am now thinking of another variation… The most time consuming part of this chicken is the dredging, but really it’s not that bad. The original version serves this up with teriyaki sauce, which we found to be delightful. Little bite of rice and stir fried veggies rounded out the meal for something that was quick, easy, and delish.

Panko Breaded Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce

Chicken:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2-3)
Vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 475˚ F.  In a bowl, pie plate, or loaf pan, mix together flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  In a second bowl, lightly beat the eggs together.  Place the panko in a third bowl or pie plate.  Place a wire rack over a baking sheet (I line my sheet with foil for an even quicker clean-up) and coat rack with oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. I lightly soak a paper towel in vegetable oil and wipe down my rack.

Split the chicken breasts in half by butterflying them leaving 4-6 pieces total.  Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  Dredge chicken in the flour mixture to coat both sides.  Shake lightly to remove any excess.  Dip into eggs and shake gently to remove any excess.  Finally, coat well in the panko.  Transfer to the prepared wire rack.  Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the bread crumbs are golden.  Let rest a few minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with teriyaki sauce for dipping, dunking, or drizzling.

Sauce:
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
3 Tbsp sake
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp mirin*

Combine soy sauce, orange juice, sake, sugar and mirin in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 6 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Do not cook for longer! If you continue to cook, the sauce will become a tar-like substance when cooled—Blech. Remove from the heat and set aside.

*Mirin is a sweet rice wine. I did some research before attempting this recipe because I didn’t know if I would be able to find this item locally. In the end, I did end up purchasing mirin from my local grocery store in the ethnic food isle where they have the soy sauces, fish sauces, rice wine vinegars, etc. If you are unable to find it, you can always purchase it from Amazon.com (this is the exact kind I used) or I read about some substitutes. Now, I don’t know how the substitutes actually taste in comparison to using the actual mirin, but if you’re strapped, then give one of these a shot:

3 Tbsp dry sherry
3 tsp sugar

OR

3 Tbsp apple juice

Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats