DId ai save my life but give me a new recipe UNFINISHED
I have chicken thigh fillets and, starting to lose a little something its time to explore a new taste and texture for my pallet.
I have spread my fillets, without drying, I have marinated in salt and pepper and wrapped in cling film and placed on a rack for around 40 minutes.
While wrapping I remembered from some input, where omlette was cooked by wrapping in cling film and plunging in simmering for how long I can't remember, is memory right in thinking I have seen chicken cooked in similar manner.
I have chicken thigh fillets and, starting to lose a little something its time to explore a new taste and texture for my pallet.
I have spread my fillets, without drying, I have marinated in salt and pepper and wrapped in cling film and placed on a rack for around 40 minutes.
While wrapping I remembered from some input, where omlette was cooked by wrapping in cling film and plunging in simmering for how long I can't remember, is memory right in thinking I have seen chicken cooked in similar manner.
Yes, your memory is probably mixing together a few related techniques.
Cooking omelettes or eggs in cling film parcels was a popular television-chef trick years ago. However, modern food safety advice is generally cautious about heating ordinary cling film directly in boiling or simmering water because not all cling films are designed for that use.
As for chicken, there is indeed a cooking method where poultry is sealed in heat-safe plastic and gently cooked in water. The professional version is called sous vide. Instead of cling film, the chicken is vacuum-sealed in food-grade bags and cooked at a precisely controlled temperature. This produces exceptionally juicy chicken with a very different texture from roasting or frying.
What you've done so far with your thigh fillets is actually moving towards another useful technique. The salt is beginning to penetrate the meat and improve both flavour and moisture retention. Leaving the thighs uncovered on a rack in the fridge after salting would also help dry the surface slightly, leading to a better crust when cooked.
If you're after a completely different taste and texture from your usual chicken, here are three interesting options:
1.Velveting (Chinese restaurant style)
•Slice the thigh meat.
•Coat lightly with cornflour, a little oil, and optionally egg white.
•Rest 20 to 30 minutes.
•Briefly poach or oil-blanch before stir-frying.
•Result: incredibly tender, silky texture.
2.Confit-style chicken
•Slowly cook the thighs submerged in fat at a low temperature.
•Result: rich, soft meat that almost falls apart.
3.Sous vide effect without specialist equipment
•Place seasoned thighs in a freezer bag.
•Expel as much air as possible using the water-displacement method.
•Cook gently in water held below a simmer.
•Finish quickly in a hot pan.
•Result: very juicy meat with excellent texture.
Personally, with thigh fillets I'd be tempted to go for a Japanese-inspired approach: marinate in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a touch of honey, then grill or pan-fry hard at the end. The dark meat of thighs takes those flavours particularly well.
One thing though: if your chicken has been sitting wrapped at room temperature for 40 minutes, I'd cook it fairly soon. If it has been resting in the fridge on the rack, that's ideal.
What sort of chicken dishes do you normally make? If I know what textures you're used to, I can suggest something that feels genuinely different rather than just another variation of roast chicken.
GOOD CHOICE.
Chicken thigh fillets are actually better suited to a confit-style cook than chicken breast because the higher fat content keeps them succulent.
For tonight, without making litres of duck fat, I'd do a "poor man's confit":
1.Seasoned thighs as you've already done.
2.Place in a small oven dish just large enough to hold them.
3.Add enough oil, butter, chicken fat, or a combination to come about halfway up the meat.
4.Cover tightly with foil.
5.Cook slowly at Gas Mark 1 for around 1½ to 2 hours until very tender.
6.Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.
7.Finish skinless fillets in a very hot frying pan for a minute or two per side to develop colour and texture.
The result should be noticeably different from roasted or fried chicken:
•Very juicy.
•Soft, almost silky texture.
•Deeper flavour from the slow cooking.
•Meat that can be pulled apart with a fork.
A nice companion would be buttery mash, crusty bread, or even just some roast potatoes. The oil left behind will also be packed with chicken flavour and makes an excellent base for a quick gravy.
One thing I would add is a clove of garlic and a sprig of thyme or rosemary to the dish. They work beautifully with slow-cooked chicken without overpowering it.
Enjoy it, and pay attention to the texture as much as the flavour. The texture change is where the real reward is with this method.
and 3
For #3, the "sous vide without specialist equipment" idea, I'd be a bit cautious with improvised temperatures because chicken needs to be cooked safely all the way through.
A simple home version with your thigh fillets:
•Season as desired.
•Place in a freezer bag with a knob of butter, garlic and herbs.
•Push out as much air as possible.
•Cook very gently in hot water that is below a simmer. The water should be hot but not bubbling.
•Once cooked through, remove and dry the surface.
•Finish in a screaming hot frying pan for 1-2 minutes per side.
The result is quite different from confit:
Confit (#2)
•Richer flavour.
•Softer, almost falling-apart texture.
•More luxurious and indulgent.
Bag-poached then seared (#3)
•Cleaner chicken flavour.
•Firmer but extremely juicy.
•More like the texture you get from high-end restaurant chicken breast, except with the richer flavour of thigh meat.
For tonight, with thigh fillets already salted and rested, I'd actually lean toward #2. Thigh meat loves long, gentle cooking, and it's probably the bigger departure from the texture you're used to. The meat develops that lovely tender, almost silky quality that makes you stop and notice you're eating chicken differently.
OK lets mix n match, you saybwater just below thus and that, what temperature are you talking of, Q. What is the best temperature for the shortest possible cooking time
If your goal is the best texture with the shortest practical cooking time, I'd aim for 75°C to 80°C water.
•At 65°C to 70°C you get the classic sous vide tenderness, but you're talking an hour or more.
•At 75°C to 80°C, thigh fillets cook through relatively quickly while staying very juicy.
•Above 85°C, you're getting close to poaching territory. Still good, but the advantages start to diminish.
For average thigh fillets:
•Water at 80°C
•Bagged with a little butter, garlic and herbs
•20 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness
•Then a very hot pan for colour
Your mix-and-match idea could work nicely:
1.Bag the seasoned thighs with a knob of butter.
2.Cook in 80°C water for 25-30 minutes.
3.Remove from bag and pat dry.
4.Fry hard in a little oil until golden.
This gives you some of the juiciness associated with sous vide and some of the flavour development from pan cooking, without the long confit time.
One caution: I'd avoid cooking chicken in ordinary cling film. Use a freezer bag or food bag intended for food contact and heat exposure. That's much closer to the established sous vide approach and avoids questions about what the film might do when heated.
Given your interest in exploring texture tonight rather than just flavour, I'd go for 80°C for 30 minutes, then a fierce sear. That's probably the biggest texture change you can achieve in under an hour.