It’s hard to pick what cuisine we would rate as the family favourite in our household. So far we’re big fans of indian (no surprises there! :P), mexican, italian, chinese, japanese to name but a few. If you’ve had a look around the blog at the various recipes, you’ll probably find a mix of “fusion” type recipes; as I really enjoy mixing different things to make it our own.
One big favourite with the kids, and is SO easy to put together, is the Chicken Katsu; served with sushi rice, edamame beans & coleslaw drizzled with kewpie mayo (ohemgee yum!). The Katsu sauce is purchased from our local JapanMart as making katsu sauce would probably be more than I can currently handle :P, and it lasts longer.
Ingredients:
- 2 Chicken breast pieces (boneless, skinless)
- 1 packet Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- Oil (for frying)
- Katsu sauce (for serving)
Method:
- Beat egg in bowl & set aside.
- On a plate, place approx 2 cups of panko and set aside.
- Now, the least messy way to do the next part is to put a layer of cling wrap/plastic wrap onto your counter top. On this place a chicken breast.
- Taking care, slice the chicken breast in half horizontally (parallel to the counter top) using a sharp knife, and set aside one half.
- Place a piece of cling wrap over the remaining piece, spreading it out tightly so you don’t have any wrinkles.
- With a kitchen mallet (or heavy fry pan or rolling pin?), flatten the chicken breast so that it is an even thickness all way round. Go slowly to avoid making holes in the chicken, and rather than going up/down, use slight lateral motions.
- Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a heavy pan on the stove top.
- Dip each piece of chicken first into the egg, then into the panko.
- Fry on medium heat until chicken is cooked through & panko is golden brown.
- Cut into slices & serve with your chosen Katsu sauce.
Enjoy! 🙂
Notes:
- Being the healthiest piece of the chicken, I’ve suggested using chicken breast. HOWEVER, I have done this with chicken thigh (boneless, skinless) sliced into thin pieces, as I find it has more flavour & my kids are more likely to eat it! 😛
- Panko does seem to soak up the oil as it fries, and thus you will need more for it to fry properly. You could possibly oven bake them, with a little sprayed on oil, but I’ve not tried this as yet.
- I’ve not tried making my own Katsu sauce as yet (being time poor). However, the varieties available on the market suited us just fine. The kids seemed to like the “Bulldog” brand katsu sauce (available at JapanMart or Countdown/Pak ‘n Save) as its a sweeter tomato-y taste, but DH & I liked the Kikkoman (Japan) brand (found at the Japanese supermarket) as it had a more savoury taste.
