Crispy Tomato Chicken

Hadi really liked the crisp exterior of Justin's chicken from last time, but thought it was rather bland. So this time round, he tried marinating the chicken before coating with the flour mixture and cooking. Sounds like a rather neat idea, hehe. We usually eat Justin's chicken with tomato/chilli sauce, so how would actually putting the sauce inside with the chicken be like? You're about to find out. ;)

What you need:
3 pieces chicken thighs

To marinate:
Tomato sauce, enough to cover the chicken
Salt and black pepper, for seasoning

To coat:
Flour mixture from Justin's chicken, or just plain seasoned flour

What you do:

1. Marinate the chicken in the tomato sauce seasoned with salt and pepper. Hadi marinated his overnight, but do it as long as you can.
2. Place the flour mixture in a plastic container with a cover, and place one piece in chicken inside. Cover, shake to coat and set the chicken piece aside. Repeat with the other two pieces.
3. Bake in a 180 C oven until cooked and juices run clear.

Like its "predecessor", this chicken was also nice and crispy on the outside. The biggest difference was the subtle hint of tomato right under that crispy coating. Me and Hadi really liked it. Justin found it a bit weird tasting though. I do admit that the tomato sauce was sweeter than I would have liked (its usually sourer than this) so maybe the cooking somehow made the sauce sweeter or something. :P Whatever the case, I'm sure adding a bit of salt (and perhaps vinegar) would remedy this.

And perhaps turmeric as well. :D (Haha, it would be a lot like ayam bakar tomato, only crispy! Sounds good to me~!) Someone once said that a little bit of turmeric helps chicken absorb any marinade, so it should do well here, I think. Just a little. Because even though Hadi marinated it overnight, the flavour didn't really penetrate the top layer, so under the crisp crust, it just tasted like chicken. :S He forgot to poke the chicken though, that didn't help I'm sure. Also, like most tomato-based dishes (eg pasta?) I think this would benefit from some herbs as well (in the marinade), just to deepen the flavour, hehe. ;)

It *might* also be an idea to use plain flour, since the seasonings from the original mixture might not go with the ones used in the marinade. Other than that, this was a nice dish, and I'm sure it'll crop up pretty often (with different marinades, I think. Perhaps chilli next time? ;) )

Quote of the day: I don't like gourmet cooking or 'this' cooking or 'that' cooking. I like good cooking.