Breadcrumbs are handy for utilizing stale bread and crackers, but they're less forgiving than batter, which at least has the decency to cover your food evenly after dipping. Fortunately, a Bolivian dish called silpancho will change the way you look at breading cutlets.

Silpancho involves a very thinly rolled-out, breaded cutlet, but what sets it apart is that many chefs fry it without dipping it in egg first. Instead, it's thoroughly smushed into a bowl of breadcrumbs before hitting the hot oil, creating a mess-free, perfectly crisped, and lightly coated piece of meat.

You can also apply this technique to lean ground meat, such as beef, by making golf ball-sized orbs and rolling them in seasoned breadcrumbs. From there, flatten the meat out with a rolling pin, flip to repeat the coating, and roll until you have a cutlet with the thickness of a crepe.

This method works well despite the absence of egg or flour because it creates a uniform piece of meat. By doing this, you never have to worry about errant batter chunks like you would on pieces of fried chicken or floppy, odd-sized vegetables.