Recipe Makeovers

Fried chicken

Crunchy, tasty fried chicken with less calories and far less "bad" fats than regular fried chicken from a fast food outlet.

Fried chicken was always a special treat in our family when I was growing up. I loved the taste and texture of the crispy chicken, and thoroughly enjoyed the coleslaw and fries (or potato and gravy) served on the side.

I also remember thinking to myself that, even though it was fast food, it can't be all that bad because I knew that chicken was healthy.

I'm under no such illusion these days. I realize that chicken meat may be healthy, but deep-fried chicken is anything but. Yes, the underlying chicken meat is low in saturated fat and rich in high-quality protein. But it's what's on the outside that spoils things.

For a start, fried chicken is typically cooked with the skin on. Chickens store lots of their fat in their skin, and a lot of this fat is saturated fat, which can raise "bad" LDL cholesterol levels in the blood. To make matters worse, the chicken is then breaded and deep-fried in fat. Fast food outlets like KFC use partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil to fry their chicken. Unfortunately partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil contains lots of trans fat, which studies show is even more harmful to your heart and arteries than saturated fat.

All this fat isn't only bad for your health, it also contains lots of calories, which isn't good for your waistline either. Most of us then compound the damage by eating foods like commercial coleslaw and French fries with the chicken. These foods are also high in calories, and French fries typically contain high amounts of trans fat.

So, in no way or form is fried chicken healthy for you (as KFC tried to promote recently in U.S. television advertisements—before receiving a severe rebuke for false advertising from the Federal Trade Commission) and should be eaten sparingly or on special occasions.

Healthy fried chicken

However, there is a way to enjoy the taste of fried chicken more regularly. Our recipe for fried chicken is oven-fried instead of deep-fried. And in our version we remove the skin and liberally brush the chicken with healthy peanut oil which is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

Let's have a look at the nutritional difference between our fried chicken and typical fried chicken from a fast food outlet:

Quite clearly our chicken is far healthier. Not only is it lower in calories but it contains much less saturated fat and no trans fat compared to the fast food version.

The great thing about this chicken is that it's not only healthy, it also tastes delicious. And if you want to turn this into a true feast, why not have this fried chicken with some healthy antioxidant-rich coleslaw and healthy French fries.

Now let's look at the simple steps involved in preparing and cooking healthy fried chicken. (This recipe serves 2.)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F then combine 1/3 cup of fine bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika and ½ teaspoon ground white pepper in a large bowl.

Pat dry 4 skinless chicken pieces (two breast pieces and 2 drumsticks) with a paper towel, then brush with 3 tablespoons of peanut oil.

Roll each chicken piece in the bread crumb mixture, pressing to coat well.

Place the chicken pieces on a non-stick baking tray (or lightly grease a regular baking tray with oil). BAKE for 1 hour without turning.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

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