The Ultimate? Tender and Moist Chicken Ham

Name: The Ultimate? Tender and Moist Chicken Ham
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 Chicken breast; 2 tbsp Yogurt; 1 tbsp Sugar; 1 tsp Salt; 1 dash Pepper

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

This recipe creates a dish known as "Chicken Ham." About 3 years ago, I made it so often and fanatically. Eventually I was able to work out this "ultimate" recipe. I got the hint to macerate in yogurt by looking at recipes for tandoori chicken. I just made this dish after a long time. As I thought, it is delicious!

Are you tired of dried out chicken ham? Don't worry. If you make it with yogurt, the lactic acid will keep the meat tender, and will remove any unpleasant smells. Usually step 3 will involve soaking the meat in water to remove salt added during the marinating process, but that is not necessary in this recipe. If the salt is not properly removed, it results in failure as it is too salty to eat, so we avoid this completely by using yogurt rather than excess salt to condition the chicken. This chicken will retain all of its savoury goodness. Recipe by YAMAT

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

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Ingredients

1 serving

2Chicken breast
2 tbspYogurt
1 tbspSugar
1 tspSalt
1 dashPepper

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Steps

1

Remove the skin from the chicken breasts.
2

Place the yogurt, sugar, salt, pepper (as much as you like), and chicken breasts into a plastic bag. Close the bag tightly and leave to macerate in the refrigerator for 2~3 days.
3

When the chicken has finished macerating, remove from the bag and wipe lightly with a paper towel (don't rinse it). It is okay to leave some of the yogurt mixture on the chicken.
4

Group together the 2 chicken breasts and wrap them tightly (reference steps 11 and 12 for information on size). When you have finished wrapping, seal the ends of the wrap with rubber bands.
5

Place the wrapped breasts into a sealable bag. Seal the bag firmly so that no liquid will get into it.
6

Bring a good amount of water to a boil, and place the bag into it for 15 seconds. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Let this set as it is for 2 hours. (For more details see steps 13~15).
7

After 2 hours, remove the bag from the water, and chill in the refrigerator for 6 hours (do not remove from the bag). Now it's done.
8

The finished chicken ham will be tender and moist. Because it is so tender, take care when slicing it.
9

Savoury soup: By the way, the liquid in the plastic bag is the juice of the chicken and yogurt mixture. If you add this to soups, it will create a rich flavour.
10

To store: The ham will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. Please use it quickly as it doesn't contain preservatives.
11

Addendum to Step 4: Butterfly the raw chicken breasts and turn them so the thick and thin sides fit evenly together. This will help the chicken hold together evenly without gaps and make cutting easier.
12

Addendum to Step 4 (continued): Wrapping two breasts does not necessarily glue them together. To allow for easy cutting, you can also make a small ham using just one breast.
13

Addendum to Step 6: The cooking time in boiling water is not 15 minutes, but 15 SECONDS. Turn off the heat and the chicken will continue to cook through using the residual heat of the water. Protein is degraded by heat, so by heating slowly in a lower temperature, you are ensuring a moist result.
14

Addendum to Step 6 (continued): Please prepare plenty of boiling water for the chicken (at least 2 litres). Bring the full quantity up to a boil before adding in the chicken. If the water is not hot enough it will cool too quickly and the chicken will not cook through.
15

Addendum to Step 6 (continued): After sitting in the cooling water for 2 hours, it is okay to remove the chicken, even if the water is not thoroughly cool yet. There is no need to let it sit in tepid water for a longer period of time as this will not affect the chicken.