Recipe: Chicken Katsu with Japanese Golden Curry Sauce
Beasty Chicken Katsu, with Japanese Golden Curry Sauce, pickled veg, slaw + lemon
Chef had a craving — a craving for thin crispy-fried chicken fillets in a rich, golden, Anglo-Japanese curry sauce, with some tangy, sweet cabbage slaw and pickled onions. Ooooh it’s good. Here is how you can make this at home.
The sauce is made from srcatch, it takes about 40 minutes and needs constant attention for the first 20 minutes so that it doesn’t burn. But it’s so worth it Beasty — enjoy x
For tips and videos of the sauce being made check out our insta @eatupbeasty
You will need
JAPANESE GOLDEN CURRY SAUCE
1 x Onion chopped, 3 x carrots chopped
2-3T Grapeseed oil, a pinch or two of Chilli flakes (optional, to taste)
3T Mild Curry Powder, 70g Plain flour, 70g Unsalted butter
1T Soy sauce, 1T Tomato sauce, 1T Worcestershire sauce
1 x Apple, grated, 1.2 L Chicken stock (warm)
FOR THE CHICKEN KATSU
500g of free-range chicken breasts, sliced horizontally and tenderised.
Panko bread crumbs, 2 x eggs, plain flour — to crumb the chicken.
FOR THE SLAW
1/4 Green cabbage, very finely sliced.
2 x Spring onions, greens finely sliced.
2T toasted sesame seeds.
1T each of: Mirin, Rice wine vinegar, white soy (or light soy), sesame oil — shaken together.
ADDITIONAL
Finely sliced pickled red onions + veg (homemade or from likes of Farro).
Lemon wedges to serve.
METHOD
Gently caramelise the onion and carrots in Grapeseed oil for 5 minutes. Colour is good, but don’t let them burn.
Add unsalted butter and stir for a minute, then when the butter is melted and bubbling add your curry powder and chill flakes. Stir continuously on a low heat to cook out the spices, but not burn them. (Remove the pot from the heat if you think its getting too hot). See our video demos of these first few steps over on instagram. Add your flour and mix in well, taking the pot off the heat for a minute or so if needed while you do this.
Back on a low-medium heat, start adding your chicken stock a little at a time to create your roux. The stock will react quickly with the flour and will immediately start to thicken up. Stir stir stir. Keep adding 150ml of stock at a time then mixing well to ensure no lumps. At each stage when the sauce thickens, add more stock and keep stirring until eventually you have a smooth sauce.
Simmer for 15 minutes on a low-medium heat, stirring regularly so that it doesn’t catch and burn.
Add your soy, tomato, and Worcestershire sauces and the grated apple. Stir to combine, and then bring the sauce up to a simmer, stirring every few minutes for another 20-25 minutes until you have a glossy, rich, yellow sauce, and the carrots are cooked and tender.
The next step is to blitz the sauce, and sieve it to strain out any lumps. Taste and adjust for seasoning if you need to, add a little salt if needed.
Blend until smooth and sieve.
The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 7 days, or you can freeze it.
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In a pan, fry your crumbed chicken until golden and cooked. Sprinkle with a little salt when it is ready and set aside to rest.
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For the slaw, combine the finely shaved green cabbage, sliced spring onion greens and toasted sesame seeds. Add the dressing just before serving and toss to combine.
If you have access to some pickled onions and vege these make a great accompaniment to this dish! With the slaw, the acid cuts through the richness of the chicken and sauce — just heaven.
Serve with a wedge of fresh lemon, and voila ! Time to eat !