All Grown Up Chicken Fingers

By connieo

Added to the menu in 1988 by owner Peter Eng, who felt he could do better than the frozen ones his kids were eating, the 125 pounds of fingers served daily at Mitzi's (mitzi sounds like the Cantonese word for tasty) are made from scratch. "Others grind [the meat] or mold it," says Shirley Eng, who, like her husband, hails from Hong Kong. "Ours is real chicken." Fresh breasts are sliced into strips, then marinated overnight in salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, paprika, and other seasonings. Flour-dusted and dredged in an egg wash, the chicken is coated in breadcrumbs (ground loaves of supermarket white), and fried in canola oil.

Ingredients

• FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp. roughly chopped dill
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. dry mustard powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• FOR THE CHICKEN FINGERS:
• 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3"-long-by-1"-wide strips
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. dry mustard powder
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups finely ground fresh breadcrumbs or panko
• Canola oil, for frying

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 30mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Make the dipping sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the honey, dill, mustard powder, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and stir together until smooth; set honey-dill dipping sauce aside.

2. Make the chicken fingers: In a medium bowl, toss together chicken, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard; set aside. Place flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes; set aside. Pour oil to a depth of 2″ into a 6-qt. Dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat until deep-fry thermometer reads 325°. Working in batches, coat chicken in flour, shake off excess, and dip in eggs; coat in breadcrumbs. Fry chicken until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken. Serve with dipping sauce.