Crispy Chicken Katsu

womacktate
Dec 13, 2023
3 min read

Is there a food that you eat and it immediately transports you back somewhere? Maybe it's your mom's chicken noodle soup and it takes you back to a cold winter day sitting in her kitchen.

For me, this is what chicken katsu does. Any time I make chicken katsu, I am immediately transported back to when I lived in Japan. I can picture kneeling on the tatami mats in a restaurant surrounded by amazing friends.

It may sound weird, but chicken katsu is a recipe that is very special to me. I think it's because it reminds me of the amazing time that I had in Japan. I'm very excited to share this recipe with you. The best part is it's super easy. Let's get into it!

Chicken Katsu

Chicken katsu is pretty much just Japanese fried chicken. You take a chicken breast, dredge it in flour, egg, panko, and then fry it.

The reason we dredge the chicken in the flour and egg is to help the panko stick to the chicken. If we just cover the chicken in panko, when we fry the chicken, the panko will fall off in the oil. (Fun fact. The word "pan" in Japanese is bread and the word "ko" means child. So that means that panko is the child of bread. Also known as breadcrumbs.)

Step-By-Step

Get your chicken thigh and cut it in half (cut it like you would cut a bun open). We want to cut it in half so that the chicken is too thick. If it's too thick, it'll take forever to cook.
Prepare your flour, egg, and panko. The egg needs to be beaten. I recommend putting the flour, egg, and panko on their own plates or bowls.
Cover your chicken in flour, then cover the floured chicken in egg. After the chicken has flour and egg on it, put it in the panko and cover the chicken with panko.
Get your pan and put in enough oil that at least half the piece of chicken will be covered. Turn the stove on to medium heat.
Get a few pieces of panko and drop it in the oil. If the panko sizzles and bubbles, that means the oil is hot enough.
Put your chicken in the pan.
Leave the chicken on one side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Then flip your chicken over and cook it on that side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Carefully get the chicken out of the pan. cut the chicken in half to make sure that there is no pink left. If it is cooked all the way through, finish cutting your chicken into slices. If the chicken is still pink, add it back into the oil for a few more minutes.
You are done! Put the chicken on some white sticky rice, add your katsu sauce (ingredients listed below), and enjoy!!!

Good job!!! I hope you enjoyed your meal. Remember, if it didn't turn out exactly how you thought it would, you just need to try again. I definitely didn't get this recipe down perfectly the first time I made it. It took me a lot of practice. If you run into problems, my DM's are open on Instagram!!