Recipe - Pan Fried Chicken Thigh

The chicken thigh is probably the most tasty part of the chicken because the thigh muscles are the most active part of the chicken. This is an easy to cook dish but patience is needed to let the chicken thigh cook slowly in the frying pan. Easy because I just need to buy the thighs, rinse and marinade and they are ready for the frying pan. Patience is needed to pan fry the thighs in low heat so that the meat is well cooked and the meat just fall off the bones.

Get the number of thighs (skin and bone on) needed, say 1 per person and maybe 2 each for the hungry ones. A simple marinade is salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper under the skin and let them sit for a while (say 15 minutes) in the fridge.

For variety, I sometimes used cumin seeds and salt for a totally different and minty flavour. You can try other herbs for variety.

Heat a couple of tbs of oil in a pan. The chicken thigh has fat or oil so there is no need to use a lot of oil, just enough to cover the pan.

Pat dry the thighs with a kitchen towel and coat them with flour.

When the oil is hot, place the thighs into the pan, one at a time. Once the thighs are in the pan, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. It takes about 10 minutes for the for the thigh to brown. When the pan is covered with the lid, the thighs are also being steamed at the same time. This will soften the inside of the thighs.

Turn over the thigh when one side is brown. It will take another 10 minutes to brown the other side.

When both sides are brown, they are ready to serve. Place the thighs on a kitchen towel to drain residual oil and serve.

This goes very well well with coleslaw:

http://thomas-rainbowdiary.blogspot.com/2012/04/recipe-coleslaw.html

That's home cooked Kentucky Fried Chicken with coleslaw.

This 5 minute video uses a more elaborate sauce and looks just great.