How to make chicken parm?
The chicken parm sandwich is a New York City staple. In the city’s meatpacking district, its meats and cheeses smothered with crushed tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, and eggplant. The recipe is easy to make at home—here are few tips on how to make it just like the best in the city!
Imitation is the highest form of flattery: a classic example of this would be taking something from someone else’s work and reinventing it for yourself. In most circles this is met with a warm reception as long as you’re not blatantly stealing someone else’s creative ideas or copyrighted materials (see: James Franco). But when it comes to food, the reverse is true. People often claim that someone else’s dish has become “his” or “hers,” and although many people are rightfully threatened by this appropriation, it’s actually a very common practice.
Right now, chicken parm is one of those foods that everyone loves in New York City but no one can remember exactly how it came to be. The closest thing to a tradition around this classic Italian dish would be the fact that the original restaurant—Parmigiana—has been closed in New York for over ten years, but then again not all of New York traditions are as old as you think.
Step-by-step guide on making Chicken parm
-First and foremost, you’ll need to gather all the necessary ingredients. The main components of a traditional chicken parm sandwich are chicken, tomato sauce, and cheese.
-Next you need to sauté your meat in a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Some people like their parms grilled or fried, but for me this makes the meat too dry and lacking in flavor, so I prefer to sauté it slowly until all the pores are completely saturated with the oil.
-Now it’s time to add some moisture back into the meat: through a process called braising and this will also give you added flavor because as you heat up your pan sauce ingredients evaporate and mix with your cooking oils.
-Once the meat is finished cooking, simply add your sauce and cheese. I tend to make a fairly thick sauce so it doesn’t trickle out as much once I put on the mozzarella.
-Bake your parm for about ten minutes in the oven at 350°F, until everything is melted. At this point you’ll want to put a nice layer of tomato sauce on your bread and top it off with a generous amount of grated Parmesan cheese. A final touch would be a few basil leaves—depending on how much you love basil!
Also Read: How to know if chicken is bad?
FAQs about chicken parm
1) What’s the best chicken parm sandwich in New York City?
-Chaos, Bklyn.. and also Parm. Bklyn. Parms are easy to find anywhere in New York City outside of Times Square or other heavily “touristy” areas (so no, not everywhere). You can also buy a decent parm from any Italian market in NYC if you can manage to find one (check out this guide I wrote for those of you trying to find one).
2) Where can I get chicken Parm?
-Chaos, Bklyn.
3) Can I make Chicken parm at home?
-Yes! This recipe is the easiest way to make chicken parm at home.
4) How can I make chicken parm at home?
-The best way is to make the sauce and cheese. You can use a food processor and make your own sauce and cheese, but if you don’t have the skill to do so or don’t want to deal with something super messy, then just get some tomato sauce and mozzarella. Add these two ingredients to some bread, top it off with tomatoes and put a layer of Parmesan on top! The sandwich is done!
5)What kind of bread should be used?
– The parm sandwich is traditionally served on a roll. The roll that gets the most attention in NYC would be an Italian roll (you can also use baguettes). I have used a variety of breads including rye, white, and wheat.
6) What kind of cheese should I use?
-I’ve found that the best cheese to use for chicken parm is mozzarella. It melts the fastest and it has a creamier flavor than other cheeses like cheddar or provolone. The best way to make sure that it doesn’t rub off on your hands is to smear some lemon juice on them before handling it. Also, when you put the cheese on top of the sandwich you want to spread it so that it’s not too skimpy, but enough so that you can see the gooey stuff underneath.
