Pan-Seared Chicken Breast

Can’t afford beef, don’t want pork. Grabbing some chicken breast and pan-searing it at home is still a pretty good deal.

Pan-searing chicken breast is simple, but there are a few points you need to hit to get it “soft and juicy.”

• Slice the breast horizontally into fairly thin cutlets
• Then take the back of your knife and pound the meat, the way Kunshan Brother Long did, to tenderize it
• After that, add vegetable oil and black pepper, or spices, and marinate it. How long is up to you; if you like it salty, throw in some salt too.
• Get a frying pan and heat it up first
• Add a tiny bit of oil. If you’re loaded, add a generous pour and swirl it around the pan
• Lay the chicken cutlets in, spread them flat, lowest heat, cover with a lid. After two minutes, flip them, cover again for two more minutes, and they’re done.

You can drizzle some sauce on top — Thousand Island works, vinaigrette works — and add a bit more spice.

I’ve tried this a lot of times, and this method is the best: fast, and very tender. My old method was to score it and pan-fry by hand, which took long, was hard to cook through, and even when it was done it wasn’t tender anymore. This is about as far as the improvements go — it’s simple.