Japanese Recipe Adventures: Chicken katsu
For our next Japanese Recipe Adventure, we’re trying chicken katsu (anything breaded and deep-fried). Chicken katsu is possibly the tastiest way to eat chicken breast in my opinion. But people often have issues with chicken breast drying out or cooking unevenly.
But have no fear, I’m going to share with you my secrets to delicious, mouth-watering chicken katsu.
Even it out
o avoid the dreaded “burnt on the outside, raw in the middle” issue, you need to make sure your chicken is an even thickness throughout. Some people achieve this by cutting the chicken breast into slices at an angle, getting the most surface area. But I find that this way needlessly extends the deep-frying time, as you have to do more batches.
So what I do is cut the chicken breast in half, length-wise, then take a look at it from the side to find the thickest parts. Then, using a meat mallet (or, in my case, the bottom of a heavy pot), pound the thick slices with medium force until the whole thing is of even thickness. Don’t go crazy here, or you’ll lose the texture. You can skip this bashing part if cutting the breast in half results in two pieces of uniform thickness.
If this is your first-time deep-frying, it might seem a little daunting. But if you keep the following in mind, you’ll do just fine:
Use a high smoke-point oil like canola or peanut.
To avoid spills and splatters, use a wok, dutch oven, or pot with high walls.
Use a thermometer like this one to keep an eye on the temperature. Read More...
