Recipe

Wiener Schnitzel

Name: Wiener Schnitzel
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 4 veal escalopes (topside or silverside), about 150 g each, flattened; Fine salt, to taste; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 120 g plain flour; 3 whole eggs; 200 g fine, unseasoned breadcrumbs; 250 g clarified butter (or lard); 1 lemon, cut into wedges; 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, in a small bunch

Veal escalope, breaded and fried in clarified butter — thin, crisp and golden, with a coating that puffs as it cooks. Viennese pride in all its simplicity.

Servings4 people

Preparation20 min

Cooking10 min

Total time30 min

DifficultyModerate

Two golden breaded Wiener Schnitzel on a dark plate with lemon wedges

Ingredients

For the escalopes
4 veal escalopes (topside or silverside), about 150 g each, flattened
Fine salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the coating
120 g plain flour
3 whole eggs
200 g fine, unseasoned breadcrumbs
For frying and serving
250 g clarified butter (or lard)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, in a small bunch

Let’s make it.

Prepare the clarified butter. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Skim off the white foam from the surface, then gently pour the golden butter into a bowl, leaving the milky residue behind. Set aside.
Flatten the veal. Place each escalope between two sheets of baking paper. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound from the centre outwards until 5 mm thick. The meat should be very thin and even. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Set up three stations. In three shallow dishes: flour in the first, eggs beaten with a fork in the second, breadcrumbs in the third.
Coat the escalopes. Dredge each escalope in flour, tapping off the excess. Dip it in the egg, making sure no patch stays dry. Finally roll it in the breadcrumbs — do not press the coating on. It must stay loose so it can puff up as it fries: that is the secret of a true Wiener Schnitzel.
Heat the butter. In a large frying pan, heat the clarified butter over medium-high heat. There should be enough fat for the escalope to "swim" — about 1 cm deep. Target temperature 160–170 °C: a breadcrumb should sizzle briskly on contact.
Fry immediately. Slide the escalope into the butter as soon as it is coated — do not wait, or the breadcrumbs will soften. Gently swirl the pan so the escalope does not stick and the butter flows under the coating (this movement is what makes it puff). Cook 2 to 4 minutes per side, until evenly golden.
Drain and serve. Rest on kitchen paper for a few seconds only. Serve immediately on a warm plate with a lemon wedge and a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley.