It seems like chicken is on most menus no matter where you are in the world. It's variety of uses and accommodation for less than skillful preparation makes it a stable on the dinner plate. Also, the abundance of restaurants that offer chicken makes it probably second only to ground beef as the food of choice for lunch.Myth: Fried chicken is bad, broiled or grilled chicken is good when it comes to nutrition. This one myth has spawned the growth of rotisserie only chicken restaurants and new entries of grilled chicken at one famous chicken chain.
Understand this: When your wonderful chicken breast is covered by a variety of sauces, creams, cheeses and other assassins of good health nothing else matters. This is not part of the myth but is part of America's in attention to detail.
Here's why the myth that chicken preparation is the primary factor behind it's nutritional value. Take the chicken thigh, juicy, tolerant to over cooking, can be prepared in thousands of ways. You can get it boiled (typically in soup), fried (KFC, Church's, Popeyes to name a few), Roasted (Boston Market), BBQ'd (most BBQ restaurants - see my award winning blog postings for some great ones), now grilled (KFC). Of course, the cook at home has all these choices available to them too. It just doesn't matter. If you don't pull the skin off it just doesn't matter. Let me repeat: It's the freakin skin that drives the fat, not the prep.
Here's the data for one chicken thigh taken from a number of websites including CalorieKing (a food database):
Roasted: 9.6 g fat
Flour Coated and Fried: 9.3 g fat
Stewed: 10.0 g fat
KFC Grill: 9.0 g fat
It doesn't matter!!
So the next time you're faced with a choice of chicken, your selection should be based purely on flavor and taste. If you seek reduced fat pull the skin off and if possible order the breast. It will be more filling and the meat itself is leaner.
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