Yuzu chicken piccata

Name: Yuzu chicken piccata
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian, Japanese
Ingredients: 2 small chicken breast fillets (halved lengthways to make 4 cutlets); sea salt; 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging; 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; ½ cup sake or white wine; ½ cup chicken stock; 1 tsp yuzu kosho (or the zest of 1 lemon, ½ a finely chopped jalapeño and ½ tsp sea salt); 2 tbsp capers; 2 oz butter, plus another tablespoon if needed; 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice; chopped coriander or parsley, to serve

A teaspoon of yuzu kosho carries the entire pan sauce. Sake and butter do the rest.

At a Glance

Time

30 min

Serves

Story

Yuzu kosho is one of the great small jars. It comes from Kyushu, in the south of Japan, and it is nothing more than yuzu peel, chilli and salt pounded together and left to ferment, which turns it salty and floral and quietly ferocious all at once. A single teaspoon carries a whole pan sauce. Buy it in green if you can, from the unripe fruit, and keep the jar in the fridge where it will outlast most of your friendships.

Ingredients

2 small chicken breast filletshalved lengthways to make 4 cutlets
sea salt
1 cup all-purpose flourfor dredging
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlicfinely chopped
½ cup sake or white wine
½ cup chicken stock
1 tsp yuzu koshoor the zest of 1 lemon, ½ a finely chopped jalapeño and ½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp capers
2 oz butterplus another tablespoon if needed
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
chopped coriander or parsleyto serve

Method

Piccata is a sturdier old thing than its trattoria reputation suggests, and it takes this handsomely. The citrus comes from a fermented paste rather than a lemon, which means one small jar doing the work of a whole shopping trip. Rice or mashed potato underneath, greens alongside.

Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthways to give you 4 even cutlets. Cover with parchment and pound them gently with a rolling pin to about ¼ inch. Season generously with salt and leave them 10 minutes so it has time to work its way in. That rest is doing real seasoning work, not killing time.
Whisk the chicken stock and yuzu kosho together in a small bowl. Put the flour in a shallow bowl.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Dredge each cutlet in flour, patting off every bit of excess, and lay it in the hot oil. Cook 2 minutes on the first side until golden, turn and give it 1 minute more. Move to a plate.
Turn the heat to medium and add the garlic. After 20 seconds pour in the sake and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon while the alcohol cooks off, 1 to 2 minutes. Sake reduces sweeter and rounder than wine does, which is why it suits the kosho.
Add the stock mixture and the capers and simmer 3 to 4 minutes until slightly thickened, then whisk in the butter.
Return the cutlets, turn them through the sauce and simmer another minute. Off the heat, add the lemon juice and swirl the pan until everything comes together. If the sauce splits, whisk in the extra tablespoon of butter and it will forgive you.
Spoon the sauce over, scatter the coriander and serve warm.