Pork Schnitzel
Classic Schnitzel - a cut of meat pounded flat, and then breaded and deep / pan fried to golden perfection. Serve on a bun with pickles for lunch or with your favorite side on a dinner plate.
Servings 6 servings
Calories 508kcal
Equipment
- Meat Tenderizer (Mallet)
- Plastic Wrap
- Chef's Knife
- Fork
- Large Bowl
- Medium bowls (2)
- Tongs
- Probe Thermometer
- Large deep Pan
- Deep Fryer (optional)
Ingredients
Meats (Perishables)
- 6 Thin cut pork (Chops, tenderloin) (Boneless)
Staples (Perishable)
- 1 cup Milk (I use 2%)
- 2 Eggs
Staples (Dry)
- 1 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup Corn Starch
Oils
- 4 cups Cooking oil I used Canola oil
Salt, Pepper, & Spices
- 2 cup Bread Crumbs (I used Italian this time - Came out great)
- 2 tbsp Paprika (any style works)
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper
Instructions
- For this recipe I used boneless pork tenderloin cut into thin pieces weighing approximately 6 ounces a piece
- The very first thing you want to do is remove as much fat as possible.
- While this is not necessary if you really like the taste of pork fat, most people are trying to eat a bit healthier these days, so every little bit helps
- Using a sharp chef's knife cut out as much fat as you can while leaving the pieces of meat as whole as possible
- This is what they looked like after I removed all the fat. You can see what I removed in the lower right corner
- In this next step you need to pull out a piece of plastic wrap large enough for the meat to be fully covered leaving several extra inches of plastic wrap on all sides
- Place the meat toward the center of the plastic wrap pulling enough off the roll to completely cover the meat and loosely for several inches on all sides
- Using the flat side of the meat tenderizing mallet, start to strike the meat starting at one edge, working across, back and forth until the entire piece of meat is at least half as think as original, or go back and pound it until it reaches approximately 1/4 inch thick
- This was a second piece of meat. I wanted to show how much it thinned out while growing in size
- Leave the pork in the plastic wrap and set aside for the moment
- Much Thinner...
- Much Larger...
- Next in the large bowl, add your flour, corn starch, paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper. Using a fork, stir the dry mixture together until well blended
- You should not be able to see any large spots of any spice in the bowl
- Time to make the egg wash: Crack your two eggs into one of the medium bowls
- Add approximately 1 cup of milk to the bowl with the eggs
- Using the fork from earlier lightly scramble the egg yolks combining them with the milk
- Add bread crumbs to the second medium bowl. I used Italian bread crumbs this time because that is what I had on hand, the schnitzel came out great. You could use any type of bread crumbs you want though, Italian, Japanese, Panko, etc.
- Unwrap one of the pieces of flat pork
- Drop the pork into the flour mixture
- Using your hands, coat the piece of pork with the flour mixture until well covered
- Now remove the pork from the flour mixture and drop in in the egg wash
- Again using your hands, make sure every inch of the pork is well coated in the egg wash
- Now that the pork has been in the flour mix, and the egg wash, drop the piece of pork into the bread crumbs.
- Use your hands to help cover the pork in breadcrumbs
- Keep at it until the pork is completely coated in bread crumbs. Lay to the side on a plate.Repeat this process until all of the pork is coated in breadcrumbs
- Add the oil (I used Canola) to the large preferably somewhat deep pan or use a deep fryer if you have one. Set the heat to medium high. You know it is about ready when you can add a couple breadcrumbs to the oil and they sizzle. Carefully add the pork using tongs one piece at a time, I could fit two pieces in my pan easily so I cooked two pieces at a time.
- If there is enough oil in the pan, the pork will start to float when done, otherwise use a probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of the pork. It should be at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius)
- Keep adding the pieces until all of them are cooked to the proper temperature
- Remove them to a plate with paper towels on it to drain the extra oil
- Pork Schnitzel served with Rosemary herbed potatoes
Notes
Other Variations could include smaller pieces fried and place on bread with cheese or your favorite toppings
Another variation could be to use very small pieces and add them to a salad