What is katsu?
Katsu is an array of dishes that consists of cutlets coated in panko and fried. The cutlets can be pork, chicken or seafood and, in some cases, even vegetables.
How do you cook chicken katsu?
Whether you’re using breast fillet or thigh fillet, pounding the meat is a must because the thickness is uneven. Some portions are thicker than others and you want a uniform thickness to ensure that the chicken will cook evenly.
The pounded fillet is seasoned, dredged in flour then dipped in beaten egg.
Finally, the chicken fillets are coated with panko before they go into the hot oil in a frying pan.
Why flour, egg and panko? If you simply press panko into the chicken, the crumbs will fall off during frying. You need the egg to make the panko stick. And you need the flour to make sure that the egg won’t drip off. Makes sense, right?
Fried chicken and spaghetti
Ingredients
Fried chicken
- 2 chicken breast fillets - split into halves horizontally, or four chicken thigh fillets
- salt
- pepper
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- ¾ cup panko
- cooking oil - for frying
Pasta in tomato cream sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion - peeled and grated
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and grated
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- ¼ cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- ¼ cup finely chopped bell pepper
- salt
- pepper
- sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 150 grams spaghetti - cooked and drained well
To complete the dish
- shredded mozzarella - as much as you like
- chopped parsley
Instructions
Fry the chicken
- Pound the chicken between sheets of cling wrap until the meat is half an inch in thickness.
- Lay the chicken pieces flat and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Place the flour, beaten egg and panko in three shallow bowls.
- Dredge each chicken in flour; shake off the excess.
- Dip each floured chicken cutlet in the beaten egg, making sure that every inch of the surface is coated with egg.
- Roll each chicken cutlet in panko. Make sure that the panko coating is even.
- Heat enough cooking oil so that it is at least an inch and a half deep.
- Over medium heat, fry the breaded chicken cutlets for two to three minutes per side.
- Drain the chicken on paper towels.
Cook the pasta in tomato cream sauce
- In another pan, heat the olive oil.
- Saute the onion, garlic and oregano for a minute.
- Pour in the tomato sauce.
- Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and bell pepper.
- Sprinkle in a little salt, pepper and sugar.
- Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings.
- Toss in the pasta.
- Set aside and keep warm.
Fry the chicken a second time
- Pour more oil into the frying pan so that the depth is at least three inches.
- Turn up the heat to high and fry the chicken cutlets a second time until nicely browned and crisp.
- Drain the chicken on paper towels then transfer to a chopping board and cut into half-inch slices.
Assemble the dish
- Divide the pasta among flour plates or bowls, piling on one side only, and sprinkle generously with mozzarella.
- Melt the mozzarella with a kitchen torch.
- Arrange the sliced fried chicken on the other side of the plates or bowls.
- Sprinkle in chopped parsley before serving.
