How the Chicken Kyiv appeared: interesting facts from history + recipe
Every cook prepares this dish in his own way, and it has had a lot of variations over the years of its existence. Now it is not entirely clear what can be considered an authentic recipe and who prepared the Chicken Kyiv first. One thing is known: a distant relative of the Ukrainian delicacy was born somewhere in France, where they really like to combine creamy notes with meat products, and was called “de-volai”.
A similar dish is prepared in France even now, but in the Ukrainian version, the filling is usually butter, and in the French version, sauce.
The first recipe for Chicken Kyiv that we know dates back to 1918. The dish began to be served in the restaurant of the “Continental” hotel during the hetmanship of Skoropadskyi. Then it was forgotten for a long time: a difficult economic situation was established in the country for a decade. But in 1947, there was a triumphant return: Chicken Kyiv was served at meetings on the occasion of the return of the Ukrainian SSR party delegation from Paris.
An interesting fact: it was Kyiv chefs who invented leaving a bone in a filet with a paper bow. It was much more convenient to eat this way because you didn’t have to get your hands dirty.
Nowadays, Chicken Kyiv are included in the menu of thousands of the best restaurants around the world. In addition to butter and traditional greens, spinach, various types of cheese (camembert and dorbleu are especially suitable), mushrooms, chives, and even prunes with nuts are used as fillings. By the way, Kyiv-style cutlets are prepared not only from the chicken fillet, but also from veal.
How to make Chicken Kyiv: cooking technology
The classic Chicken Kyiv is a tender, battered chicken fillet, inside which is placed a piece of butter mixed with dill, garlic, or other herbs. The cutlet is rolled up, coated in breadcrumbs, flour, and egg, then fried in a large amount of oil and baked in the oven. Breading is done twice.
Ingredients for cooking 4 cutlets:
- 4 pcs. chicken fillet
- 100 g butter
- A few sprigs dill
- Garlic clove if desired
- 100 g flour
- 3-4 chicken eggs
- Salt, ground black pepper to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 100 g breadcrumbs
Classic Chicken Kyiv: step-by-step recipe
Step 1. First of all, we prepare the filling. Let the butter melt a little, and mix with chopped dill. With the help of polyethylene film, we roll it into a sausage and send it to the freezer.
Step 2. Let’s move on to the fillet. Cut the small fillet from the large one. Cut a large fillet lengthwise on one side, but not to the end, and unfold it like a book. If the chicken is large, then two cutlets can be made from one fillet. Then cut the fillet lengthwise into two parts, equal in thickness.
Step 3. Beat the cut fillet a little with a kitchen hammer. In order not to splatter the kitchen with meat, we first cover it with a bag.
Step 4. Cut the frozen butter into 4 equal parts. We first wrap each piece with a small fillet.
Step 5. Now we begin to form the cutlets. Salt the large fillet and sprinkle it with black pepper. In the center, we lay out the filling, wrapped in a small fillet, and if possible, turn the edges from all sides, and tightly twist, while giving the patty an ellipse shape.
Step 6. Mandatory condition: the oil must be completely hidden so that it does not leak out during frying. We send the formed cutlets to the freezer for half an hour. In this way, they will not lose their shape, and the butter will not melt prematurely.
Step 7. We start breading. Beat the eggs lightly with a fork. Put the flour and breadcrumbs or dried breadcrumbs on two different plates.
Step 8. First roll lightly frozen cutlets in flour, shaking off excess. Then, with the help of two forks, dip in eggs. Now roll in breadcrumbs. You need to take the cutlet in your hands and press the breading against the previous layer.
Step 9. Dip the cutlet into the egg again and roll it again in breadcrumbs, as if sticking them with your hands to the semi-finished product.
Step 10. If you don’t have a classic fryer at home, use a saucepan. Pour refined oil. There should be a lot of it so that the patty is almost completely covered.
Step 11. Heat the oil well. Carefully lower the cutlets into the boiling oil and fry until golden brown. It will take 2-3 minutes.
Step 12. Put the cutlets in a heat-resistant form and send them to the oven heated to 200 degrees. Cook the Chicken Kyiv for 12-15 minutes. At this stage, the main thing is not to overcook the dish in the oven. And then enjoy the meal. The ideal side dish for it will be potato or potato-celery puree.
