Quick CardJapanese Chicken Katsu Curry
8 servings
Curry Roux
- 100 gunsalted butter
- 100 gall-purpose flour
- ≈ 24 gJapanese curry powder
- 6 ggaram masala
- ≈ 0.9 gcayenne pepper
Chicken Curry
- 670 glarge yellow onions, 2 onions, cut into thick wedges
- 190 gcarrots, 2 carrots, peeled and roll-cut into wedges
- 430 gYukon Gold potatoes, 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- ≈ 2 gfresh ginger, grated, with its juice
- ≈ 6 ggarlic, minced or pressed
- 170 gapple, half an apple, cored, peeled and grated
- 680 gboneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
- black pepper, to taste, freshly ground
- ≈ 20 gneutral oil
- ≈ 960 gchicken stock
- ≈ 21 ghoney
- ≈ 16 gsoy sauce
- ≈ 15 gketchup
- ≈ 5.5 to 11 gDiamond Crystal kosher salt
Chicken Katsu
- ≈ 1090 gboneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ≈ 5.5 gDiamond Crystal kosher salt
- ≈ 1 gblack pepper, freshly ground
- ≈ 94 gall-purpose flour
- ≈ 200 glarge eggs
- ≈ 27 gneutral oil, for the egg wash
- 240 gpanko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- ≈ 655 gneutral oil, for deep-frying
To Serve
- steamed Japanese short-grain rice, for 8, to taste
- fukujinzuke (Japanese red pickled vegetables), to taste
- Curry Roux Melt 100 g unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 100 g all-purpose flour and stir constantly with a flat wooden spatula.
- Keep stirring over medium-low heat until the roux turns a warm golden brown. Watch closely towards the end, when it colours quickly. 20 min to 25 min
- Add 24 g Japanese curry powder, 6 g garam masala and 0.9 g cayenne pepper, stir for 30 s and take the pan off the heat.
- Chicken Curry Soak 430 g Yukon Gold potatoes in water to rinse off excess starch while you prepare the rest. 15 min
- Cut 680 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs on a slant into flat, bite-size pieces and season with black pepper.
- Heat 20 g neutral oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook 670 g large yellow onions, stirring only now and then, until translucent and starting to colour. Another 5 min gives even more flavour.
- Stir in 6 g garlic and 2 g fresh ginger, then add the chicken and cook, stirring often, until no longer pink on the outside. Lower the heat briefly if the onions brown too fast. 5 min
- Add 960 g chicken stock, 170 g apple, 21 g honey, 16 g soy sauce and 15 g ketchup, then the 190 g carrots and drained potatoes. The liquid should barely cover everything. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring now and then and skimming off any foam once it boils. 15 min to 20 min
- Turn off the heat. Dissolve the the curry roux a little at a time in a ladleful of the hot liquid, stirring each batch back into the pot, until you have used about four fifths of it.
- Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring often and scraping the bottom so nothing catches, until thick. Add more roux to thicken or water to loosen, then season with 5.5 to 11 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt. 5 min to 10 min
- Chicken Katsu Butterfly each of 1090 g boneless, skinless chicken breasts: score it down the middle about halfway through, then slice outward from the cut on each side, parallel to the board, and open it out like a pair of doors. Cut each opened breast in half to make two cutlets. 10 min
- Pound the cutlets to an even 6 mm (¼ in) to 1.3 cm (½ in) thickness and season both sides with 5.5 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 1 g black pepper.
- Pour 655 g neutral oil, for deep-frying into a heavy pot to a depth of about 4 cm (1 ½ in) and start heating it to 170 °C over medium-low heat while you bread the chicken.
- Set out three shallow dishes: 94 g all-purpose flour; 200 g large eggs whisked with 27 g neutral oil, for the egg wash; and 240 g panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). Dredge each cutlet in flour and shake off the excess, coat it in egg, then press it gently into the panko on both sides.
- With the oil at 170 °C, fry one cutlet at a time for about 3 min, turning halfway, until golden on both sides. Keep the heat at medium and adjust to hold the temperature.
- Hold each cutlet upright over the pot for a few seconds to drip, then stand it on its side on a wire rack. Skim out stray crumbs between batches so the oil stays clean.
- To Serve Spoon steamed Japanese short-grain rice, for 8 onto one side of each plate and ladle the hot curry alongside. Slice the katsu into 2.5 cm (1 in) strips and lay it over the rice and curry. Add a little fukujinzuke (Japanese red pickled vegetables) on the side.
- Safety: Large batch: cool quickly in shallow containers or an ice bath, to below 5 °C within 6 hours, before refrigerating. (USDA FSIS)
- Safety: Poultry should reach 74 °C (165 °F) at the centre. (USDA FSIS)
- Safety: Egg dishes should reach 71 °C (160 °F) at the centre. (USDA FSIS)
- Safety: Chicken should reach 74°C in the thickest part. If the cutlets are thicker than the recipe calls for, check with a thermometer. (The author)
- Safety: Never leave hot oil unattended, keep the pot no more than half full of oil, and lower the cutlets in away from you. (The author)