Strips & Chips: Crumbed chicken tenderloins with matchstick fries

Tenderloins are small fillets attached to a chicken breast – that little part of the filleted breast (when the bones and skin have been removed) that pulls away easily.

Also called a tender, or just a fillet, it is a little muscle of its own and cooks very quickly to turn out very tender, hence its name.

These days, tenderloins are sometimes sold in packs in supermarkets and are a good choice for a chicken wok supper.

I decided they’d also be good for making your own chicken strips, the kind you find on the menus of certain family restaurants. So I put together a quick crumb of panko crumbs, grated lemon zest, finely crushed dried chillies, finely chopped rosemary needles, and salt and black pepper.

These crumbed strips do not need any egg – the crumb and its other tiny elements stick directly to the flesh.

You can fry them in butter or oil, or toss them around in a hot wok, or you can do what I did – layer them on a greased pan and bake them in the oven.

Whichever way you choose, cook them quickly, in just a few minutes, or they will turn tough despite being called tenderloins. The key is speed.

I cooked the chips in an air fryer.

Tony’s crumbed chicken tenderloin strips with even smaller chips

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

600g chicken tenderloins

1 cup panko crumbs

Zest of 1 lemon

1 dried chilli, finely chopped

1 or 2 rosemary sprigs

Salt

Black pepper

Lemon wedges (to serve)

Matchstick (shoestring) chips:

3 large potatoes, peeled

Salt to taste

2 Tbsp cooking oil

Method

Remove the packaging from the chicken tenderloins and pat them dry all over. Place on a platter or board.

Strip the needles off the rosemary sprigs and chop them very finely.

Chop the chilli finely.

Add the panko crumbs to a bowl, followed by the dried chilli and rosemary, then grate in the lemon zest.

Season with salt and black pepper and stir well.

Dip each tenderloin in this on all sides to coat.

Pan or wok fry: Add oil to a hot pan or wok and fry in batches, quickly, removing the cooked tenderloins to a plate.

Oven bake: Arrange on a greased oven pan and bake in a preheated, very hot oven (as high as 230°C or more) for about 15 minutes, turning them over half way. Don’t overcook them.

For the shoestring (or matchstick) chips:

Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly on a board, about 3mm in thickness. Then turn each slim round of potato on its flat side and slice them into matchsticks chips, also about 3mm in thickness.

Place them on kitchen paper or towel and pat the top side with more paper or towel.

Preheat an air fryer oven to 200°C.

Add a little oil to a bowl.

Put the prepared chips in the bowl and toss vigorously so that all the chips are coated. Add a touch more oil if needed.

Tip them into the air fryer drawer and cook until golden and crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. They’re done when they look and taste right, not when the timer goes off. Salt, and eat with the tenderloins and squeezes of lemon juice. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.