Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders Rolled with Umeboshi and Shiso

Name: Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders Rolled with Umeboshi and Shiso
Total time: 25 min
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: Chicken tenderloin (sasami) 4 (about 200 g); Shiso leaves (ooba) 8; Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) 2; All-purpose flour 1 tbsp; Vegetable oil 2 tsp; Sake (Japanese rice wine) 2 tsp; Toothpicks 4 spears

🥗 Lighter 💪 If you exercise 🍱 For a bento

Serves 2 · About 25 min
Butterflied chicken tenders spread with umeboshi, rolled up with shiso, and cooked in a frying pan. The umeboshi is salty, so no salt is used. Easy to put in a bento too.

① Chop the umeboshi→② Butterfly the chicken tenders→③ Roll→④ Cook→⑤ Cut and serve

What to buy

Meat

Chicken tenderloin (sasami)4 (about 200 g)

Vegetables & pickles

Shiso leaves (ooba)8Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums)Regular saltiness2

Check what you already have

All-purpose flour1 tbspVegetable oil2 tspSake (Japanese rice wine)2 tspToothpicks4 spears

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How to make it

Chop the umeboshi

2 min

Take the pits out of 2 umeboshi by hand
On the cutting board, chop finely with a knife into a paste

How to tell it's doneThe fruit is smooth, with no big lumps.

Remove the tendon from the chicken tenders and butterfly them

About 5 min

Remove the white tendon sticking out from the end of each tender. Put it on the cutting board, hold the end of the tendon with your fingers, and pull it out while running the knife blade along it (point the blade outward)
Cut down the middle of each tender lengthwise without cutting all the way through, and open it to the left and right (it will be about 1 cm thick)

How to tell it's doneAll 4 are opened up into single flat pieces.

Be carefulIf the tendon is hard to remove, don't force it. Make a small cut around the tendon with the knife, then pull.

Add umeboshi and shiso and roll

About 5 min

Divide the umeboshi from step 1 into 4 equal parts and spread it thinly on the inside of the opened tenders
Put 2 shiso leaves on each
Roll up from the near side, and fasten the end with 1 toothpick
Lightly coat all over with 1 tbsp cake flour
After rolling, wash the cutting board, knife and your hands with dish soap (because you'll cut the cooked chicken in step 5)

How to tell it's doneAll 4 are rolled, and the ends are fastened with toothpicks.

Cook

Medium → Low heat, lid onAbout 8 min

Put 2 tsp vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat over medium heat
Lay them in seam-side down and cook 2 min
Roll them with cooking chopsticks for about 3 min until browned all over
Sprinkle in 2 tsp sake, cover right away, and steam over low heat for 3 min

How to tell it's doneCut one in the middle: the inside of the chicken is white all over. If there's pink, cover and cook 1–2 min more.

Be carefulWhen you add the sake, it sizzles and steam rises. Keep your face away.

Cut and serve

2 min

Pull out the toothpicks
On the cutting board, cut each roll diagonally into 3–4 pieces
Arrange on a plate with the cut side up

ReadyOn the cut side you can see a swirl of white chicken, green shiso and red umeboshi.

Be carefulAlways pull out all the toothpicks before cutting. Take them out before putting the rolls in a bento too.

📚 Learn more about this dish

🥬 Ingredient guide

Ooba (shiso leaves)

🔪 Cutting & cooking tips

Heat levels (high, medium, low)Mushi-yaki (steam-frying)

If it didn't work out

Too saltyThe umeboshi was very salty. Next time, use just 1 umeboshi.

It came open while cookingYou didn't start cooking them seam-side down. Push the toothpick in deeper.

It is dryOvercooked. After covering, cook about 3 min over low heat, and cut to check.

The middle is rawThe chicken is too thick. Open it out to an even thickness of about 1 cm. Cover and cook 1–2 min more over low heat.

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Made by YUU, a teen who loves cooking → About me