Nestum Chicken / Cereal Chicken (Fried Chicken with Cereal, Curry Leaves & Chilies) | BIG Bites MY

Nestum Chicken / Cereal Chicken (Fried Chicken with Cereal, Curry Leaves & Chilies)

Deep-fried dishes rarely make an appearance on my dinner table but when they do, it is such a treat! The cereal gets toasted as it is being stir-fried and I absolutely love the crunchy texture it gives the dish. This is SO EASY LAH if you follow the recipe tutorial! The recipe shown here feeds 1 to 2, just double up accordingly if you are cooking for more. This dish goes well with a bowl of rice, a simple stir-fried plate of veggies and maybe a bowl of hot soup. Yums! A well-balanced and satisfying meal.

Watch video for step-by-step method of preparation

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

Prep time: 20 minutes 

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serving: 1 to 2 (increase portions accordingly if you are cooking for more)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cereal (Nestum)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 40g butter
• 1 tablespoon groundnut oil
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 1 teaspoon chicken stock granules
• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 Thai chili
• 3 sprigs curry leaves
• Enough oil for deep frying
• Chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 chicken chop (boneless chicken leg)

Method:

1. Chicken:
• Trim off the excess fat and tendons. Cut chicken into long strips.
• Add soy sauce, oyster sauce and white pepper into a bowl. Stir to combine.
• Add chicken and stir to coat. Marinate for at least 2 hours. (I prefer to marinate overnight in the fridge).
2. Cut Thai chili into 5mm lengths. I prefer to deseed so that it is less spicy.
3. Rinse and remove curry leaves from the stalk
4. Breadcrumbing the marinated chicken:
• Whisk egg. Add 2 tablespoons (30ml) of the beaten egg and corn flour to the marinated chicken.
• Stir to coat chicken with the mixture
• Coat chicken with breadcrumbs and set aside
5. Frying the chicken:
• Heat oil over MEDIUM LOW heat. Test with pair of wooden chopsticks. When bubbles appear, the oil is hot enough.
• Add chicken and deep fry until light golden brown. Flip occasionally. Do not overcrowd the pan.
• When chicken is light golden brown, remove. Wait a while for the oil to heat up again.
• Return the chicken to the pan and fry until golden brown to crisp up the breadcrumb coating
• Remove chicken and set aside. Repeat the frying process until all the chicken is fried.
6. Heat up groundnut oil over MEDIUM LOW heat
7. Add butter and wait for it to melt
8. Add curry leaves and saute until aromatic
9. Add chicken stock granules, salt, milk powder, cereal (Nestum) and Thai chili
10. Stir to combine the ingredients over MEDIUM LOW heat. Work fast because the cereal will start to burn if it is on the heat for too long.
11. Taste and flavor to your liking
12. When the cereal mixture is well combined and aromatic, add in fried chicken pieces. Toss to combine and it's ready to be served.