Recipe No.18 Homemade Katsu Chicken

The day I go for my big grocery shop always guarantees that I’ll feel more like experimenting in the kitchen. Last night of course was no exception. This is mainly because I make a list of new recipes to try and what ingredients I need to buy to make them. Topping my list for meals to make was Chicken Katsu. It’s been a while since I had my first and only chicken Katsu at Wagamamas back in May and there is the odd day when I crave it but with the nearest restaurant being well over an hour a way it’s not somewhere I can just pop to for lunch! So when I found a cookbook with a recipe for it in, I knew I had to give it a try. The recipe book in question is one I picked up from a Car Boot sale that I went to when I visited Bee back in August, it’s by Lisa Faulkner who won Celebrity Masterchef a few years back and it’s called Recipes from my Mother to my Daughter. Despite it having really great recipes in it, this is the first one I’ve actually tried and as ever I ended up tweeking it slightly to go along with what I had in the cupboard. I won’t take credit for this recipe as apart from a few of the measurements, it is 100% Lisa Faulkner’s. Thank you Lisa, I’m glad I can enjoy Katsu whenever I please.

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 x Chicken Breasts

Plain Flour, for dusting

50g Dried Breadcrumbs

1 x Egg

Fry Light

Basmati Rice, to serve

For the Katsu Sauce

2 x Shallots

1 x Garlic Clove

1 tbsp Turmeric

1/2 tbsp of Mild Curry Powder

1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

Chicken Stock Cube

200ml Water

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 Apple

2 tbsp Plain Flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

What You Need

Frying Pan, Small Pan, Garlic Press, Peeler, Grater, Tablespoon, Teaspoon, Measuring Jug, Rolling Pin, Cling Film, 3 x Shallow Bowls, Sieve, Tongs, Chopping Board, Knife

Start by making the sauce. Fry the onion and garlic together in the small pan until softened and slightly browned. While this is going on, peel the apple and grate. Then add the turmeric, curry powder and ketchup while continuously stirring.
Make up the stock then add 200mls to the pan along with the 200mls of water, soy sauce and apple. Season with salt and pepper then leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, wrap the chicken in cling film and flatten using the rolling pin. This helps it cook faster in the frying pan. If you’d prefer to keep it breast shape then I suggest you oven cook it.
Sieve the flour into the sauce while continuing to stir on a low heat until it has thickened.
Blend the sauce using a hand blender until it’s smooth. Then set aside.
Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in three separate bowls. Dust each chicken breast with the flour, then dip in the egg and finally coat in the breadcrumbs.
Fry off the chicken in the frying pan for 6-8 minutes (depending on the breast size). Flip it over using tongs to ensure it’s cooked right through.
If the sauce has gone cold in this time, gently reheat before serving of the chicken with some rice.

It was a bit daunting attempting it for the first time as I don’t make curry of any sorts usually but now I know, I will be making it again. It tasted like the real thing! Enjoy x

6 Comments

being erica

October 22, 2013 at 9:08 pm Reply

i literally made this last night. except with two ingredients. maybe three. crumbs, chicken and curry cubes. haha!

Cat Fyson

October 22, 2013 at 9:14 pm Reply

Yum! Love katsu chicken. I’d definitely recommend using panko breakdcrumbs for the chicken as they make it really nice and crispy 🙂

Annette Brennan

October 22, 2013 at 9:19 pm Reply

I am the world’s biggest Wagamama addict! I literally can’t go a week without going, haha! I love their katsu curry and I’ve tried to recreate it too! I actually found out through a bit of googling that the curry sauce Wagamama uses is a store bought sauce made by S&B Golden Curry which can be found in a lot of Asian stores! It’s very close but they definitely add something extra to it to give it that Wagamama flavour because it doesn’t exactly satisfy my weekly cravings!

I also use jasmine rice and panko breadcrumbs, since Wagamama use them too (such an addict it’s shameful!) I also make the side salad they have with a bit of lettuce and some pickled radishes! I have yet to source their dressing though 🙁

Great post, very straightforward to follow! I’ll try yours out sometime when I run out of that curry sauce I mentioned above!

Annettibus |Irish Fashion, Beauty and Art blog.