Chicken Katsu — Eat and Love Simply

Oct 2

Oct 2 Chicken Katsu

When I first got married, this was one of the first dishes my mom taught me to make. Richard (the husband) absolutely loved the way my mom made it. So naturally, I knew I needed to learn her ways!

It takes some work but once you get organized, it's a cinch. The more you do it, the faster it gets.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast or chicken tenders
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1-2 cups panko bread crumbs (Trader Joes has a great one)
salt and pepper
a good amount of vegetable or canola oil for a shallow pan fry
katsu sauce for serving

Directions:

To get started, get your assembly line set up. Place the flour on a large plate or on a shallow dish. In a bowl, whisk the eggs - I add a little water. Then, place the panko bread crumbs on another large plate or shallow dish. Get it all lined up next together in that order. The chicken will get dredged in the flour, dunked in the eggs and then coated with the bread crumbs.

I didn't want to use two separate plates for the flour and panko here. :)

If using chicken breasts, cut them horizontally as thin as you like, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. If using chicken tenders, pound them to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness with a meat tenderizer. Salt and pepper the chicken.

Now the chicken is ready for the assembly line! Take one piece, dredge in the flour and shake off the excess. Dunk in the eggs, making sure to cover it completely. Next, place in the bread crumbs and get it nice and coated on all sides. Place the breaded chicken onto a clean plate. Do this with all your chicken.

If you aren't going to fry these up right away, lay them in a dish with parchment paper in between the layers of chicken. Cover and store in the fridge until you're ready to cook.

When finished breading, heat about 1/4 in depth of oil in a large fry pan over medium high. The oil is ready when you drop a tiny piece of bread crumb and it starts to bubble. Once the oil is ready, carefully add in however many pieces of chicken fit - do not overlap. Cook a few minutes on each side until it gets nice and golden brown.

As they finish cooking, place them on top of a paper towel lined cutting board to absorb the excess oil.

Once all finished, slice and serve with katsu sauce and rice. Sometimes I serve it alongside Japanese curry or just rice and a fresh cabbage salad. This is one of our family favorites!