Ingredients :

• Chicken breast — Get thick fillets, not thin cutlets that dry out in two seconds. Cut them yourself into 2 cm wide strips — this thickness allows the meat to cook at the same time the breading browns. Too thin, and it cooks before it colors. Too thick, and it’s the opposite.
• Panko breadcrumbs — This is where it all happens. Classic breadcrumbs give a stuck-on, dense, slightly soft breading. Panko — found in the world food or organic aisle in most supermarkets — creates an airy texture that really crunches. If you can’t find it, ordinary breadcrumbs work, but the result will be significantly less crispy.
• Smoked paprika — Not the mild paprika powder that’s been sitting in the cupboard since 2019. Smoked paprika, called pimentón, is what gives that reddish-orange color and that slightly smoky background that you can’t quite identify but notice when it’s missing.
• Cornstarch — A tablespoon in the flour. It’s the little addition that keeps the breading crispy even after cooling — it absorbs the moisture rising from the chicken to the crust. Not mandatory, but you will taste the difference.