Banner
Build a Meal

Guruten (Gluten) Stir Fry

Tofu Shirataki Salad (Gluten free Cold Noodle Salad)

Nabe

BAM 40: Ikura Don (Salmon Roe Rice Bowl), Shitake and Green Onion Osumashi and Salad.

BAM 39: Teriyaki Chicken, Okara salad, Daikon with Chirimen jyako and Rice.

BAM 38: Shake (Salmon) Rice, Satoimo and shimeji miso shiru, hiyayakko with komatsuna and salmon skin daikon oroshi

BAM 37: Sui-gyoza 3 (3 of 3)

BAM 36: Sui-gyoza 2 (2 of 3)

BAM 35: Cabbage Salad with Sesame Dressing, Suigyoza Soup, Eggplant and Bell Pepper Miso Stir fry and Rice

Matsutake Gohan

BAM 33: Yakiniku, Kimchi, Kimchee, Soy Bean Soup and Rice

BAM 32: Wafū Pasta 3: Sansai (Mountain Vegetable) Pasta

BAM 31: Nasu no Tuskemono (Fast and Easy), Turkey Hijiki Niku Dango (Meat Ball), Negitama (Egg and green onion) Miso Soup and Rice

Cooking Perfect Stove Top Japanese Rice (Update)

BAM 30: Okonomiyaki (American-Kitchen)

BAM 29: Okonomiyaki (Buta Tama) (Easy Breezy)

BAM 28: Classic Osaka-Style Okonomiyaki (Buta tama)

BAM 27: Hiyashi Chuka

BAM 26: Southern-Japanese Build-a-Meal featuring Fried Chicken with Umeboshi Honey Dipping Sauce, Tofu Macaroni Salad and Okara Cornbread

BAM 25: Vegan Build-a-Meal Nagaimo Pancake, Lemon Daikon, Myoga and Red Potato Miso Soup and Rice.

see more >>

Everybody's favorite Crispy Chicken katsu

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
I try to stay away from too much fried food but every now and then I have a huge craving for fried chicken and I don't mean KFC. I like 'em breaded and fried, ever heard of chicken katsu? For those of you who didn't get that, I'm sort of a movie quoter. "I like 'em dead and deep fried, ever heard of Popeyes? You gotta love Chris Rock. I digress...so back to the katsu. Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) is the classic version of this fried and breaded meat, but I really like chicken katsu. I find that you can't really go wrong with chicken katsu and the meat tends to stay moist no matter how long you cook it.

This recipe is also a simple, no hassle and easy clean-up recipe. I don't bother dipping the meat into flour, eggs and then bread crumbs like a lot of recipes call for and this comes out crispier and doesn't get soggy even after it cools down.

Ingredients
3/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons of flour
1 (1/2) pounds of chicken thighs
2 cups of panko bread crumbs
Canola oil
salt and pepper

1) Use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. The dark meat helps keep the meat moist. Make sure you trim off all the fat. Lay the chicken on a chopping board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them.
2) Use a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin or the bottom of a skillet and try to make the meat an even thickness so that it can cook evenly in a frying pan.
3) Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
4) In a mixing bowl, add the water and vinegar. The vinegar is what makes it nice and crispy. Don't add the flour to the water first.
5) Whisk in the four until you have a nice smooth batter.
6) Dip the chicken in one at a time and then dip into panko crumbs and press lightly on both sides.
7) Heat a hot frying pan. You don't need to use a whole bottle or even a half a bottle of canola oil to get a nice crispy chicken katsu. This way, you don't have to deal with the mess of disposing the left over oil. Add 1/4-1/3 a cup of canola oil to the pan and fry the chicken on both sides.
8) Fry both sides on med-low heat for 3-5 minutes on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with thinly sliced cabbage, rice and tonkatsu sauce and some sort of miso soup.

Use dark meat chicken and trim off all the fat.
Chicken katsu-raw chicken

Cover with plastic wrap.
Chicken katsu-plastic wrap

This is what it looks like after it's tenderized.
Chicken katsu-after flattening out

Season with good sea salt and black pepper.
Chicken katsu-S&P

Make sure you add the vinegar to the water first.
Chicken katsu-vinegar

The batter should stick to the spoon.
Chicken katsu-batter

Set up your station so that it's dip, coat, lay down and on to the next.
Chicken katsu-get your station set up

Your chicken is ready to be fried.
Chicken katsu-ready to be fried

You don't need a lot of oil. Use canola oil since it has a higher smoking point than other oils like olive oil.
Chicken katsu-you don't need a lot of oil

When you put the chicken in, lay it down away from you so that the hot oil doesn't splash onto you.
Chicken katsu-into the oil

Cook until you see the edges getting golden brown and then flip.
Chicken katsu-turn when edges brown

It should be nice and golden brown.
Chicken katsu-golden brown

Serve with thinly sliced cabbage and tonkatsu sauce.
Chicken katsu-served

tags: Chicken 
Ok, for one, that chicken katsu looks delicious, but more importantly, I have to thank you for the seemingly simple tip about how to place the chicken in the pan. I always end up getting splattered with oil...thanks, Umamitopia!
— Mariko, June 19th, 2010
I experimented a cheap and healthy way for a yummy alternative to using meat けち katsu sando http://kookinu.com/category/food/
— kookinu, July 6th, 2011
Tag List
tags (categories)
Soy Sauce [25]
Dashijiru [23]
Rice [19]
Daikon [14]
Egg [14]
Vegan [13]
Sesame Seed Oil [12]
Katsuobushi [11]
Chicken [11]
Kyuri [9]
Shiso [9]
Mayonnaise [8]
Miso [8]
Tofu [8]
Shoga [8]
Sake [8]
Cabbage [7]
Garlic [7]
Beef [7]
Vegetarian [7]
Pork [6]
Miso soup [6]
Vinegar [6]
Mirin [6]
Age [5]
Umeboshi [5]
Carrots [5]
Carrot [5]
Green Onion [5]
Hakusai [5]

see more >>
Archives
Favorite Links

Now Reading