Turkish Chicken Breast Pudding

By
Elizabeth Taviloglu
Elizabeth Wilson Taviloğlu
Elizabeth Taviloglu
Food writer Elizabeth Taviloğlu learned Turkish cooking hands-on in Turkey where she has lived and traveled for more than 24 years.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 09/3/21
Turkish chicken breast dessert

Elizabeth Taviloglu

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 45 mins
Total: 65 mins
Servings: 6 servings

You can't talk about dessert in Turkey without mentioning a pudding called "chicken breast," or tavuk göğüsü (tah-VOOK' go-OOZ-oo'). Chicken breast is a fascinating dessert because it actually contains fine shreds of white meat chicken!

Believe it or not, you can't detect even the slightest trace of chicken flavor. All you taste is a sweet, milky, full-bodied pudding with a touch of cinnamon.

The consistency of authentic chicken breast is much stiffer than pudding. A rectangular strip of the pudding is scraped from the bottom of a shallow pan and placed on the plate in a rolled shape.

The dessert is usually cut rather than spooned. Chicken breast is served not only as a dessert but for afternoon teatime. There are several chain restaurants that specialize in 'chicken breast' and other milk desserts where loyal patrons flock every day at teatime enjoy a delicious, nutritious plate of chicken breast with their Turkish coffee or tea.

This dessert is also a favorite of moms with small children. Can you think of a better way to get your child to eat their meat?

Chicken breast is very high in protein. You can also prepare it with skim milk and artificial sweetener to give you an ideal low-calorie, low-fat dessert.

It's said that the key to making the perfect chicken breast pudding is to use breast meat that's very fresh. If you can get freshly cut chicken from a butcher shop, it's much better than packaged chicken that's been on the shelf for a few days.

The second important step is to wash the fully cooked meat over and over again in cold water until all traces of chicken odor are gone. It may seem like a lot of effort, but the result is worth it. (Note: Never rinse raw meat.)

If you love this pudding, you're sure to love its counterpart called kazandibi.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 chicken breast

  • 4 1/4 cups (1 liter) whole milk

  • 1/3 cup cornstarch

  • 1/3 cup white rice flour

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 cups water

Steps to Make It

  1. Start the day before you want to eat the pudding. First, place the chicken in a saucepan with enough water to cover it. Bring it to a boil and cook the chicken well.

  2. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and put it in a bowl. Pull the meat apart with your fingers into fine strips. Continue to shred the chicken as finely as you can. You can use the tines of a fork to help. This should be easy if the chicken is cooked well.

  3. Put the shredded chicken into a fine wire strainer and run it under cold water for several minutes. Press the chicken shreds against the strainer while you rinse it using your hand or a wooden spoon.

  4. Next, prepare a bowl of cold water. Place the strainer over it and soak the shredded chicken for about 20 minutes. Drain it in the strainer and repeat this process four or five times.

  5. For the sixth time, place the strainer in the bowl of cold water and put the whole thing in the refrigerator and leave it overnight. The next morning, drain it, rinse it a few more times under running cold water, then drain the shredded chicken completely, squeezing out the extra water and setting it aside.

  6. Put the milk in a large saucepan and boil it for several minutes. Add the shredded chicken to the milk and blend it with a hand blender two or three times until very smooth. Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook it for about 20 minutes more, stirring it constantly.

  7. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, rice flour, and about two cups of water until smooth. Remove the milk from the heat. Using your whisk, drizzle the starch in a very fine stream into the milk as you whisk it.

  8. Once all the starch is whisked in, return the pan again to the heat and bring it to scalding temperature while stirring constantly. Cook it in this manner for about five minutes more until it begins to thicken.

  9. Lastly, stir in the sugar and vanilla and cook it 15 minutes more. The pudding should become so thick that you can no longer stir it. Use the back of your wooden spoon to "slap" the surface to keep it moving as it cooks.

  10. Wet the bottom and sides of a shallow glass tray. A rectangular oven casserole pan works well. Pour the pudding into the wet tray and let it cool down to room temperature. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about six hours.

  11. You can cut your pudding or scoop it out with a large spoon. Sprinkle some cinnamon on each portion before serving.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
311 Calories
6g Fat
55g Carbs
9g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 311
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g 8%
Saturated Fat 3g 17%
Cholesterol 26mg 9%
Sodium 85mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 55g 20%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 42g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 199mg 15%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 260mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)