Breaded chicken nuggets

Ingredients

350–400g/12–14oz chicken breast mini fillets or 2 chicken breasts cut into strips
3 tbsp plain flour
1 large free-range egg
80g/2 3/4 oz dried breadcrumbs, ideally panko or coarse dried breadcrumbs, or fresh breadcrumbs (see Recipe Tip below)
4–6 tbsp oil
fine sea salt and ground black pepper

If you are oven-cooking the chicken, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. If pan-frying, ignore this step.
Put the flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Break the egg into a second shallow bowl and beat with a fork until smooth and pale. Tip half of the breadcrumbs into a third shallow bowl.
Coat each chicken strip first in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing firmly and turning to coat on both sides. Set aside on baking paper.
If oven-cooking the chicken, brush a baking tray with 1 tablespoon of oil. Place the chicken pieces on the tray and brush generously but lightly with 3 tablespoons more oil. Bake for 15 minutes, turning halfway through.
If pan-frying the chicken, heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add half the chicken strips and fry over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes on each side, or until golden-brown, crisp and cooked throughout. Turn with tongs. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper and fry the remaining half with 3 more tablespoons of oil.