Chicken Breast Tender Cutlets

(鶏ささみカツ:とりささみかつ)

Chicken is the best value meat in Japan. Also, because the flavour is not so strong, it’s easy to cook and match with other ingredients. This recipe uses tender breast chicken, which as the name suggests is tender but not dry, not chewy and not too lean. “Katsu” a general food type in Japan meaning coated in breadcrumbs, panko, and basically deep fried.

Panko is bread crumbs. Pan is from the Portugal word pão(bread)”, and ko means a powder in Japanese. I think Panko has been used in Europe as a name for rough bread crumbs, however I see Panko used quite often instead of bread crumbs in food articles nowadays. Does anyone know the differences between Panko and bread crumbs? If there is a difference, I think the crumbs in Panko’s are a bit bigger. It can also be dry or just grated fresh bread Nama-Panko.

Katsu is a method for deep frying. Today deep fried food is considered to be not so healthy. Everyone knows that healthy food is important for our daily diet, but eating our favourite foods makes us happy too. I believe that’s also a very important key for being healthy. Of course, if you suffer from certain illnesses you must follow the doctors or specialists diet guidance. Therefore, if it’s not so often, Katsu can be cooked for my family!

To deep fry use fresh oil which is especially modified for this use. Please check the label on the oil bottle. It tells you if the oil is suitable for deep frying or not. It is best to avoid using other oils.

For best results I change the oil each time. I know the oil could be used another two or three times and that this is not the most economic option. My solution: I don’t use a lot of oil, I use the minimum amount. It takes longer to cook (because it can’t be cooked both sides at the same time). But this is my compromise.