I have introduced Chicken Katsu Curry to all my friends and acquaintances now and I can happily say that not one of them disliked it. In fact, everyone absolutely loves it.Mostly the Boy, who quite happily consumes a "double katsu curry" at our favourite Japanese restaurant.
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| rich thick gravy like curry sauce |
It’s undoubtedly amazing. It’s one of those dishes you can’t get enough off, and as it’s so filling, you probably will end up over eating.
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| hard at work with the spices |
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| mmmm |
My favourite little Japanese restaurant in London is "eat Tokyo" near Trafalgar Square (which I have previously blogged about) which does an epic double katsu curry for about £9! But nothing will ever come close to the deliciousness of my mum’s katsu curry.
Since my mum moved to Cambodia this has quickly become my signature dish, as I keep making it in the quest to fill my tummy with the good foods that she used to make me. Although I am no where as good as her in making this dish, my friends (none of whom are Japanese and therefore don’t know any better) think its spot on!
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| I made some takoyaki as a side! |
It’s a pretty simple dish to make but be warned, takes ages to simmer, so this is more a lazy Sunday dish that a quick throw-together-after-work dinner.
ingredients:
lots of garlic! I used about 7 large cloves
tin of chopped tomatoes
masala
cinnamon stick
cumin
bay leaves
4 large white onions
3 large carrots
pack of katsu curry sauce (available from oriental food stores. I likes to get mine from the rice wine shop)
oil to cook wtih
Japanese rice
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| got my assembly line ready to go |
warm up a large saucepan until it is very hot, and add a bit of oil to stop everything from sticking.
add the chopped onion, carrot and garlic.
add the chopped tin tomatoes and two tins worth of water (you may need more later when the sauce reduces)
cover and leave a while to bring to the boil
once boiled, you will notice a gathering of white-foam like substance (which my mum endearingly calls "scum"). This will need to be removed with a fine ladle
reduce the heat to a simmer, add the packs of curry sauce
add two bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of masala, 1 cinnamon stick and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.
simmer on a very low heat, stir regularly and leave to cook for about 2 hours.
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| the curry is packed with veggies! |
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| the spices - aka the magic ingredients |
the chicken katsu
thinly slice the chicken breast into flat slices. I use about one chicken breast for one person. season.
in a row, lay out a bowl of flour, a bowl of egg (beaten) a bowl of breadcrumbs
coat the chicken slices in the flour, then egg, then thoroughly coat in the panko breadcrumbs. Really squash the breadcrumbs into the chicken.
heat a large wok with cooking oil. It needs to get to a really hot heat so be careful! To test whether it is hot enough to cook the chicken, drop in a clump of breadcrumbs. If bubbles form, it is ready. Alternatively, my mum's trick is to press a chop stick down in to the pan. If little air bubbles come from the stick it is ready.
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| testing the oil |
drop in the chicken for cooking. You probably can fit about 4-5 slices in the wok. It will cook quickly so will only need a few minutes. You should be able to tell if it is cooked when lifting the chicken up out the oil, it should feel light.
once cooked, leave the chicken to drain any excess oil. I do this by putting on a wire rack on top of newspaper or a magazine.
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| crispy and light |
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| this smells amazing! |
putting it all together
I like to layer my katsu curry, with rice on the bottom, chicken katsu on top of that, and the delicious sauce coating it all!
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| layered up! |
This is no where near as tasty as my mums yet but I am working on it!
X x X
ps this is a re-post but seeing as I am in Japan at the moment, I have reposted with better photos!
ps this is a re-post but seeing as I am in Japan at the moment, I have reposted with better photos!
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