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I can cook beef steak and chicken breasts pretty good, but boneless chicken thighs is where I have some issues.

First it is uneven in width, making it hard to properly cook the insides without overcooking the outside.

Second I do not know how to work the chicken skin. By the time the chicken is properly cooked, the skin is scorched - not crispy.

Third is that I do not know what kind of liquid goes well if I want to deglaze the pan. I am looking for a tangy, savory sweet gravy but I do not know what kind of ingredients will get me there (just basic deglaze knowledge).

I hope you guys can provide some guidance as to how to nail boneless chicken thighs and solve these problems I am having because YouTube and Google have not been my friends today.

EDIT: I have noticed some confusion about what is a chicken steak, so here: enter image description here

EDIT V2: Using what the comments have taught me, I have changed from "chicken steak" to "boneless chicken thighs". I will keep the picture to avoid further confusion.

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    What is a chicken steak?
    – GdD
    Feb 29, 2016 at 11:56
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    Chicken steak is a beef cut. How does chicken skin play into that?
    – Jolenealaska ♦
    Feb 29, 2016 at 12:29
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    I think the OP is actually referring to a chicken fillet (which is indeed uneven), but then again: Unless they're still attached to the breast, they usually come without skin (and are then usually not sold as fillets).
    – Willem van Rumpt
    Feb 29, 2016 at 12:57
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    Looks like thigh meat with the bone removed.
    – Catija
    Feb 29, 2016 at 14:42
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    Yeah, in the US, they are simply called "boneless, skinless chicken thighs". We don't come up with fancy names for them, we call them what they are.
    – Catija
    Feb 29, 2016 at 17:32

2 Answers 2

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Regarding width: the chicken breast needs to be flattened. Here's a video of a home cook doing it to give you an idea. I don't use the hammer, I smack it with the bottom of a skillet. When I worked in a restaurant, the Chef had me flatten chicken with a smack from the side of a heavy cleaver.

Regarding the skin: I like to brown in a 50/50 olive oil and butter. Get it hot, then add the chicken skin down. Cook it, nudge it gently with tongs on occasion, when the chicken moves freely with a nudge, the skin is crisped, and you can turn it over.

Deglazing: I like a 50/50 mix of white wine and chicken broth. Shallots is are ideal, but I usually end up with onion.

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    This is clearly not chicken breast. It's chicken thigh.
    – Catija
    Feb 29, 2016 at 20:01
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This is my favorite cut: the boneless, skinless chicken thigh. I generally sear it in a pan that already has oil and spices in it, to seal the meat, and then reduce the heat to the higher end of Medium to cook it in an open pan. If hovering over it while it cooks isn't practical for you, try spicing and breading it before you fry it. The coating makes the meat more forgiving about when it is turned, etc., and helps to seal in the moisture.

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