Coconut Chicken with Spicy Chili Sauce

My mouth is watering just looking at this picture! We eat a lot of chicken at our house which means I'm always on the lookout for ways to make it taste flavorful, yet different than just an average piece of chicken. This is a delicious recipe but it is fried. If you wish for a healthier version you could always bake it. As a general "rule", I usually bake chicken around 350 degrees and check to see if it's done after about 25 minutes or so. The spicy chili sauce can be left on the side, making it optional for the not so spicy's in your life. :)
Coconut Chicken with Spicy Chili Sauce-This recipe is taken from Budget Bytes-another great cooking blog! The author of the blog always breaks each recipe down by cost which is nice! I usually have several of the ingredients on hand so it ends up being even cheaper.
Total Recipe cost: $6.91
Servings Per Recipe: 6 (4 strips each)
Cost per serving: $1.15
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 15 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
2 lbs.	boneless, skinless chicken breasts	$3.96
2 large	eggs	$0.30
1/4 cup	coconut milk (optional)	$0.16
1/2 cup	all purpose flour	$0.28
1 cup	panko bread crumbs	$0.43
1 cup	shredded coconut	$0.50
1/2 tsp	salt	$0.05
1/2 cup	vegetable oil, divided	$0.29
1 cup	sweet chili sauce	$0.94
TOTAL		$6.91

STEP 1: Cut off any extra fat globules from your chicken breasts. Cut each breast into 6 strips, diagonally to prevent the end strips from being really short. See photos below.

STEP 2: Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and coconut milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut.

STEP 3: Place 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a large heavy duty skillet and heat over medium/high heat until it is just below smoking. You can test the heat by throwing in a little bit of flour. When it is hot enough, the flour will sizzle and create a lot of bubbles.

STEP 4: While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/coconut milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut. I find it easiest to coat all of them in the flour then go back and then do the egg wash and panko/coconut for each before moving onto the next.

STEP 5: After breading the strips, the oil should be hot enough. Place about 6 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate with paper towel to drain and move on to the next batch. After a couple of batches you may need more oil so you can add the second 1/4 cup to the pan. Allow the oil to come up to temperature before frying the next batch (2-3 minutes). Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. If you cut your strips thicker, you will need to bake off the chicken after frying to make sure the insides are cooked through.

STEP 6: When all of the strips are done frying, serve immediately with sweet chili sauce to dip in. I garnished mine with a little bit of chopped cilantro.

Enjoy! Sara