Chicken Nanban

Name: Chicken Nanban
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: Chicken breast; Plain flour; 2 medium eggs; Rice vinegar; Caster sugar; Light soy sauce; Fat-free Greek yoghurt; Mayonnaise; 2 hard-boiled eggs; Gherkins; Onion; Salt; White pepper

419 kcal a serving, against 926 for the traditional version. That is 507 kcal off, or 55%, with 45.2g of protein. Serves 4. .

What the traditional version is

Chicken thigh chunks are marinated, coated in seasoned flour, dipped in beaten egg, then deep-fried until shatteringly crisp. Straight from the oil, they're dunked in sweetened rice vinegar with a dash of soy. To finish, they're slathered with classic tartare sauce - usually mayonnaise, boiled egg, gherkin and onion chopped together. It's a punchy, seriously moorish mess.

What changed, and what each change costs

Chicken thigh swapped for chicken breast

Chicken breast is leaner than thigh. You get more protein for the same weight, and less fat hiding in the cracks. Still, it's less forgiving - one minute too long and it's drier than a bad joke.

What it costs you. Lose some of that lush, succulent bite. If you're slow with the sauce, expect it to be a bit chewier.

Baked on a rack instead of deep-fried

Baking means you skip all the frying oil, and a wire rack keeps the chicken from stewing in its own juices. The coating still crisps - if not to deep-fried levels, then close enough for a weeknight.

What it costs you. You lose the grenade-style crunch. It's a good crust, but not the kind that leaves a trail of crumbs to the kitchen. The taste is lighter and the kitchen doesn't reek.

Yoghurt swapped in for most of the mayonnaise in tartare

Classic tartare is half mayonnaise. Replacing most of it with thick fat-free Greek yoghurt means you keep the tang and creaminess with a fraction of the fat and more protein.

What it costs you. It isn't as luxurious. The sauce is brighter and lighter, but doesn't quite have that elbow-sticking richness. Still delicious, but less 'oh, go on then, just one more spoon'.

Cut sugar in nanban vinegar by half

Half the sugar, almost all of the punch. The sharpness is intact, and the chicken still gets that sticky gloss.

What it costs you. Traditionalists will say it's not sweet enough. Ignore them, or add a bit more sugar if you must.

Egg content in tartare lightly boosted

A little extra boiled egg in the tartare gives it body and compensates for the loss of mayonnaise. Every bit of protein helps.

What it costs you. Egg dominates more, so the sauce eats slightly firmer. Less ooze, more chop.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Chicken breast
Plain flour
2 medium eggs
Rice vinegar
Caster sugar
Light soy sauce
Fat-free Greek yoghurt
Mayonnaise
2 hard-boiled eggs
Gherkins
Onion
Salt
White pepper

How it starts

Heat the oven to 220C fan.
Cut the chicken breasts into large bite-sized chunks.
Set up three shallow bowls: one with plain flour, one with the two beaten eggs, one empty for now.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Japanese.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	926	419
Protein	32.6g	45.2g
Fat	74.7g	14.4g
Saturated fat	14.6g	3.3g
Carbohydrate	27.8g	23.3g
Protein per 100 kcal	3.5g	10.8g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Japanese prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. eggs, gluten, milk, mustard, soybeans, sulphites.

The method is in the book

Is this as good as the real, deep-fried, mayonnaise-laden nanban? No. You'll miss the outright hedonism of the original. But it's chicken that's still juicy, a coating that's crisp enough for anyone not holding a grudge, and a sauce that's tangy, creamy and not just a pot of mayo. It's far, far lighter, but the taste is there and you can actually eat it for lunch and get on with your day. Fry it if you want, but you can't say I didn't warn you.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Japanese, along with 48 more. Buy the paperback