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Crispy-Skin Chicken Saute
Serves 2 · About 35 min
Cook chicken thighs skin side first to make the skin crispy. Then make a butter soy sauce in the same pan. The trick is to cook it skin side down without touching it.
① Prepare the chicken→② Salt and let sit→③ Cook skin side down→④ Flip and cook→⑤ Make the sauce→⑥ Cut and serve
What to buy
Meat & dairy
Vegetables
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How to make it
1
Prepare the chicken
- Pat the chicken with paper towels to dry it
- On the cutting board, cut off the yellowish lumps of fat on the edges with a knife
- On the meat side (the side without skin), cut into the white tendons with the tip of the knife every 2–3 cm. Make shallow cuts in the thick parts to even out the thickness
- Turn it over and poke holes in the skin about 10 times all over with a fork (so the skin shrinks less when cooked)
- Wash the cutting board and knife you used for the meat with dish soap
How to tell it's doneBoth pieces are about the same thickness (about 2 cm), and there are holes in the skin.
Be carefulIf you don't cut the tendons, the meat shrinks and curls up when cooked, and it cooks unevenly.
2
Salt and let sit
- Sprinkle 3/4 tsp salt (for both pieces) and a pinch of pepper evenly on both sides
- Leave it as is for 10 minutes
- Wipe off well the water that comes out with paper towels (this helps the skin get crispy)
How to tell it's doneThe drops of water on the surface have been wiped off.
Be carefulWash hands that touched raw chicken with soap before touching anything else.
3
Cook skin side down
- Put 1 tsp vegetable oil in a frying pan, and before turning on the heat, place the chicken skin side down
- Set over medium heat. Cover the meat with aluminum foil and put a pot about half full of water on top as a weight (so all the skin touches the pan)
- Cook 8–10 minutes without touching. When fat comes out, take off the weight for a moment and soak up the fat with paper towels held with cooking chopsticks
How to tell it's doneLift the edge of the meat a little to look: the skin is golden brown. From the side, the meat is white about 2/3 of the way up from the bottom.
Be carefulThe weight pot gets hot. Use oven mitts and hold the handle when lifting it on and off.
Be carefulFat splatters. Don't put your face too close.
4
Flip and cook
- Remove the weight and foil, and flip the meat with a spatula so the meat side is down
- Cook over medium-low heat without a lid for 4–5 minutes
How to tell it's doneMake a small cut in the thickest part with a knife: it is white inside, not pink. The juice that comes out is clear (if red or pink juice comes out, cook 1–2 more minutes).
5
Make the sauce
- Take the cooked chicken out onto a rack or plate skin side up (so the skin stays crispy)
- Wipe off the fat left in the pan with paper towels
- Turn to low heat and add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tsp garlic and 10 g butter
- When the butter melts and it starts to bubble, stir for 30 sec–1 minute and turn off the heat
How to tell it's doneThe sauce is a little thick, and when you draw a line with a wooden spatula, the line stays a little.
Be carefulSoy sauce and mirin burn fast. Keep it on low heat and stop after 1 minute.
6
Cut and serve
- Put it on the cutting board skin side up and cut into 1.5 cm wide slices
- Pour the sauce on the plate first, then put the chicken on top skin side up (if you pour sauce on the skin, it gets soft)
- Wash the lettuce and cherry tomatoes with water and drain. Tear the lettuce with your hands, put it on the side, and add the cherry tomatoes
ReadyThe cut side is white, and the skin is golden brown and crispy when you touch it.
Be carefulJust-cooked chicken is hot inside. When cutting, hold it with a fork and don't touch it directly with your hands.
📚 Learn more about this dish
🥬 Ingredient guide
🔪 Cutting & cooking tips
If it didn't work out
The skin isn't crispyIt wasn't dried enough in step 2, or the cooking time in step 3 was too short. Keep it skin side down and cook 2–3 more minutes. Putting a weight on it cooks all of the skin.
The skin burned blackThe heat was too high. Next time use a little lower than medium heat and cook longer.
Pink insideIt's not cooked through. Put it back in the pan, put on a lid, cook over low heat 2 more minutes at a time, and cut to check it's white.
The meat shrank and curled upThe tendons weren't cut enough in step 1. Next time cut into the white tendons on the meat side every 2–3 cm.
The skin stuck to the panYou moved it before it browned. Next time don't touch it until the skin is golden brown.
The sauce burned and is bitterThe heat was too high in step 5. Next time always wipe off the fat and turn to low heat before adding the seasonings.
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