RECIPE: KATSU SANDO
Katsu sando at home.
The most glorious sandwich — the katsu sando. At the restaurant we make our own tonkatsu sauce and do a pork loin sando in a soft white milk bun — but at home we used chicken breasts and thick white Tip Top bread. Stu tenderised the chicken so the fillet was of even thickness (but not making it as thin as a schnitzel), then crumbed and fried it. The bread was a little too soft, so if you have access to a good quality white farmers loaf (or are prepared to make some!) cut into thick slices — that would be perfect...But hey, we’re in Lockdown — so we use what we can get our hands on right?
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and look for our Lockdown recipes in our stories:
You will need
1 free-range chicken breast, tenderised so the fillet is even but still quite thick, then crumbed with Panko breadcrumbs.
1/8 of white cabbage, the leaves finely shredded.
2T Kewpie mayonnaise (Best Foods mayo is also good if you don’t have Japanese mayo).
A pinch of salt to season the cabbage with.
1/4 Bottle of Tonkatsu sauce — available from Farro, Countdown. Poured into a shallow bowl.
Slices of thick white bread, Japanese milk bread is the tradition, on Lockdown we used Tip Top Toast bread.
100mL of neutral oil, like Grapeseed for cooking the chicken.
Makes two sandos.
make your sando
In a bowl, sprinkle salt over the finely shredded cabbage.
Scrunch the salt into the cabbage with your hands — this will soften the cabbage, season it, and will stop the mayo from running. Leave for a few minutes — then add the Kewpie mayo and mix together to combine.
Set the slaw aside and prep your crumbed chicken. The breasts will be thick, so cook on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re cooked when they are firm to touch (the meat will spring back when pressed) and you can hear the juices start to sizzle in the pan. If you’re worried the chicken is cooking too fast on the outside and might burn, you can remove from the stovetop and finish it in a hot oven.
Once cooked, rest the chicken on a paper towel, and lightly toast your bread on one side.
Now you’re ready to construct your sando:
Dip the cooked crumbed chicken fillets into the bowl of tonkatsu, so that both sides of each fillet are covered in sweet tangy sauce — YUM!
Layer the tonkatsu-covered chicken onto a piece of bread (un-toasted side out), and top with a generous layer of slaw, before closing with another slice of bread.
For the proper sando look — trim away the crusts, cut the sandwiches in half, and spike with a skewer to keep them together.
Then get stuck in! Super easy — tangy and delicious! x