Who doesn’t love chicken fingers and with a dipping sauce – just incredible.
So you want to know who Mitzi is. Well I have no idea but I came across a recipe in Saveur magazine not long ago and it was from Mitzi’s Restaurant in Winnipeg, Canada. Now I might just have to go up there sometime and try these in person.
Don’t you just love it when a restaurant has a favorite menu item that all the locals and visiting tourist rave about and then they ACTUALLY share that recipe. I can’t say I was into sharing recipes when I catered because I really didn’t want anyone being able to make some of the things I did for parties. BUT, I have a new lease on things and that is, why not share them and then people may pass my blog on to other friends and family members .
Mitzi’s is a 33 year old Chinese restaurant and I read that they added the chicken fingers to the menu in 1988 for the kids. Do you remember the chicken nuggets we use to buy for our kids. I’ve seen dinosaurs shaped, stars, teddy bears, and even one nugget shaped liked George Washington that went for $8,100 in an auction (came from a McDonald’s). I don’t know about you but anything that has a shape to it must have all kinds of stuff in it that we do not want to eat. I would bet any chicken fingers on a menu is going to be made of whole chicken and no fillers or anything in there that we can’t pronounce. I really don’t think that can be said for any “nuggets” on the market.
If you want to recreate the excitement of eating a chicken nugget or fingers or even want a good finger licking piece of chicken, try this recipe and then thank Mitzi’s for sharing it.
And what better side dishes than cole slaw, maybe some mashed potatoes and a honey-dill dipping sauce. I made my Potato and Green Bean salad but anything would be good with these little fingers.
(If you have a favorite side dish with chicken, please let me know. Sometimes I do get in a rut.)
I used chicken filet strips but you could just as easily cut a breast into thin strips.
I didn’t have fresh dill growing in my herb garden so I used 1 tsp. dried dill.
The seasonings get sprinkled on the chicken strips and then I refrigerated them until I was ready to do the coating.
Chicken Fingers from Mitzi's
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 3" long by 1" wide strips
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. dry mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp.+ cayenne pepper this was my addition to the recipe
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 c. finely ground fresh breadcrumbs or panko
- Honey Dill Dipping Sauce recipe below
Instructions
- Make the chicken fingers: In a medium bowl, toss together the chicken, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and mustard; set aside. Place flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes; set aside. Pour oil to a depth of 2" in a 6 qt. Dutch oven; heat over medium high heat until thermometer reads 325°. Working in batches, coat chicken in flour, shake off excewss, and dip in eggs; coat in breadcrumbs. Fry chicken until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Serve with dipping sauce.
- Honey Dill Dipping Sauce
- 1 1/2 c. mayonnaise
- 1/4 c. honey
- 2 Tbsp. chopped dill
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. dry mustard powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the honey, dill, mustard powder and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and stir together until smooth; refrigerate until ready to serve.
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