Silly question. When you are cutting raw boneless chicken thighs into strips

B

barb_b

Well-known member
suggested way to cut? In other words if your bone was removed, and it is opened like a butterfly, w. the bone "area" being vertical, should you slice horizontal or vertical? Does it make a difference?

Same question with chicken breasts. Slice long or shorter sides.

Hope this is not confusing. Just wondering if when using sliced chicken, that will not be used in a soup, velveted for chinese or a braise, will it make a difference on how you slice it? Is the meat more tender if you cut one way or the other? I am making a chicken tandoori.

Thanks so much for your insights!

Best,

Barb

 
Interesting question smileys/smile.gif...I slice breasts against the grain, meaning crosswise. Never use thighs.

 
Most of the chicken tandoori I have had , the meet is whole. . .

or if cut, in large chunks. I, personally, would split the thighs into halves bone-wise (length-wise, in line with the grain of the meat). The breast I would cut across first, especially if the breast is large and then I would split lenth-wise.

For a velvet, the meat is sliced across the grain into slices. Cutting across the grain insures that you will not have any long tough pieces to bite into. Of course if you cook it too long, you could have short, tough pieces, but with velveting, you usually cook it very fast, so thinner slices that will cook quickly are best.

I have found when braising, the thigh meat generally stays pretty tender and does not get too dry, but the white can get tough and dry. So I find I can braise thighs bone-in for a longer time. Breast, generally, even if braised must only until it is done, so either I must watch the temperature and time or I must cut it into small quick-cooking pieces.

I hope this helps. smileys/smile.gif

 
C1; you do not use thighs for personal preference, or other reason. My friend that made the rec

me; who is from india, used sliced thighs. BUT, then again, that might have been her (And families) preference.

I will be marinating my yoghurt / chicken mixture this afternoon! I hope it comes out even a lil bit like hers!!

Best,
Barb

 
Barb, I thought you were asking the question more in general than the specific recipe. I don't

use thighs because I have a silly dislike of dark meat. It's not the taste, but my experiences as a child. Thigh meat was darker and gamier than it is now, and I had to prep (meaning sometimes removing feathers and eviscerating) and cut up fresh chickens almost every day for a couple of months in the summer. Freshly killed chickens had a particular smell I can still remember and the dark meat was slimy to me, I still dislike working with raw chicken although I love breast meat. I do prepare whole chickens, and use whole cut up chickens once in a while as my husband likes the thigh and leg meat. But most of the time I use breasts and always breast meat for stir-fries, pasta dishes and so forth, so I never cut up thighs.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top