Chicken Katsu

 

Chicken Katsu with Stir Fried Veg

No preamble this time except to say Katsu is awesome and one of my go to choices if I find myself in Wagamama’s (not their recipe). Hopefully if you’re having a go at this , Panko breadcrumbs should be easy to find in most supermarkets , if not Amazon sell them. You can take normal breadcrumbs and toast them under the grill so they’re dry and crispy but not browned, this gives them a panko like Crunch

Chicken Katsu

100g flour, seasoned with lots of salt and pepper

1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

200g Japanese panko breadcrumbs

4 boneless chicken breasts

100ml groundnut or vegetable oil

For the curry sauce:

1 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 whole garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp medium curry powder

600ml chicken stock

2 tsp honey

1 and ½ tbsp Soy sauce

½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp White wine, Cider or Rice Vinegar

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp garam masala

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a small pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then throw in the carrots and cook slowly for 10 minutes with the lid on, giving the odd stir occasionally. You want to sweat the vegetables until softened and starting to caramelise.

Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook for a minute. Slowly pour in the stock bit by bit until combined (do this gradually to avoid getting lumps). Add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. The sauce will have thickened and taken on all of the flavours, although you still need it to have a pouring consistency. Add the garam masala, now you can pass the sauce through a sieve but that’s a lot of hard work, so I used a stick blender to create the smooth sauce, you can also use a normal blender ( I prefer the sick blender as you can blend in the pan and there’s less washing up) if you have none of those then sieve is your only option

Now prepare the chicken. Lay the seasoned flour, egg and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Coat the chicken in the flour, then dip into the egg and finally into the breadcrumbs.

Over a medium heat, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the breaded chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. Check after a couple of mins for each side and if its starting to darken too much, then turn over. If you find that the outside is cooked but the middle isn’t, put in the oven at 180 degrees for about 3-4 mins, checking to see if its cooked. 

Another tip to check the chicken is cooked without cutting it open, a meat thermometer is the sure fire way but not everyone has one, so push a sharp knife into the fattest part of the chicken and leave there for 5 seconds, remove and gently touch the flat of the knife to your lip, if your response is ooh, that’s hot, then it’s done, if it feels cold or Luke warm , it needs a few mins more

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper. Slice the chicken diagonally and serve with the sauce drizzled over, steamed rice 

Bonus Recipe – Stir Fried Veg

Ok so this is a bit of guidance as opposed to a recipe but hopefully if you’re thinking of a simple side dish to the above this will work for you

2 Large Handfuls of shredded Veg. What Veg is up to you, the key is cutting everything thin and to the same size, Normally I’d use Pak Choi, Cabbage, carrot and Mange tout , however Sainsburys were out of Pak Choi but I spotted a cut price box of pre-prepped veg for stir frying for 90p, so couldn’t go wrong. The box had onion, edamame beans, red onion and broccoli, so up to you really

1 Large Garlic clove finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped Ginger

2 good splashes of Soy Sauce 

100 ml Veg Stock

A couple of Small drops of sesame oil (optional)

Heat a wok or frying pan until really hot and smoking, add about a teaspoon of Veg, Rapeseed or groundnut oil and swirl around

Chuck in the Garlic and Ginger fry for about 10 seconds

Add the veg and stir round, moving the veg all the time so the veg is coated in the ginger and garlic

Add a couple of good glugs of soy sauce, stir again

Add the veg stock and continue to stir until the veg is cooked, about 3 -5 mins. Ideally you want veg to still have bite but not raw and definitely not soggy, finish with sesame oil if using

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds