A Schnitzel With Kick

 Everyone loves Weiner schnitzel and who wouldn't? It's a a delicately flavored veal coated in bread crumbs and then fried. Yet imagine it with a kick - a splash of vodka that makes it even better. Yes, this is not the traditional staple of Vienna anymore. It's been elevated to another level.

Chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the one behind this transformation and he wrote about it in yesterday's New York Times Food section.He developed this recipe for his San Mateo California beer garden Wursthall. This is more of a fusion restaurant than a truly German one. Chef Lopez Alt also serves chorizo and Korean hot chicken sandwiches. Yet he shines at the Teutonic dishes. He cooks the schnitzel in the same way that Harold Dieterle did at his late and much lamented restaurant Manhattan restaurant Marrow. Chef Dieterle cooked pounded duck breasts in a puffed crust, a German method known as soufflieren that coaxes the breading away from the meat. The meats then becomes well insulated by a layer of air while the extremely hot fat cooks the crust to a delicate crispness that's also rich in flavor. Yet Chef Lopez-Alt adds vodka - about a quarter of a cup of the eighty proof kind. It's brushed on both sides of the meat before breading. Doing such evaporates any water making for the puffiest crust ever. It's not unlike British chef  Heston Blumenthal's recipe for his fish and chips which also has a lighter crust. Chef Lopez-Alt also does this for his tempura recipe.

Yet the other ingredients in schnitzel should also be top notch. You can use veal but also consider center loin pork chops too. Just keep pounding them until smooth and then whack with the back of a knife after pounding for more texture. The next ingredient is the flour. Chef Lopez-Alt says stick with regular flour used for baking. It's the eggs that are added that can be controversial.Some say they should be lightly beaten.Other  like You Tuber Kein Stress Kochen recommends beating the eggs until they're completely smooth. You can also add oil to them as the editors at Cooks Illustrated, Keith Dresser and Steven Dunn do. There should be four to five in the batter. Then there are the crumbs that make up the crust. They should be finely milled to hold in the moisture. The canned ones should do fine. You can use panko but they have to be ground to produce a finer, more floury type texture. What should the schnitzel be fried in? Oil and plenty of it.The pieces have to swim because it can be bad if they touch the pan.The crust will stick and burn onto it. You can use clarified butter but peanut,canola and even rice bran work. Just swirl the meat constantly in it for evenly cooked and browned pieces.

The perfect schnitzel has the perfect kick - vodka. This ensures a puffy crust that is the dish's signature along with an even more delicious flavor. Try it for a truly tasty Viennese delight.