Hawaiian at Home
Hey all!
I took a little poll on our Instagram @adventuresofcarlienne to see what some of our followers tend to order when they go out for Hawaiian food and it was pretty clear that the most purchased meal was a chicken katsu plate. Chicken katsu wasn’t invented in Hawaii. A lot of Hawaiian dishes have Japanese influences due to the fact that Japanese immigrated to the islands in massive numbers to work in sugarcane fields or plantations. Which is why you see a lot of Japanese kine tings like mochi, katsu or teriyaki beef, and even spinoffs of Japanese cuisine. History lesson aside, chicken katsu is such a popular dish because it’s so tasty with that crispy golden brown crust and the salty sweet katsu sauce, what’s not to like? In this dish, there’s a lot of textures and flavors working together to put your tastebuds on a roller coaster. Let’s get into this easy Hawaiian at Home plate lunch guide, Chicken Katsu edition!
Materials
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk or Spatula
- Wide Pan for Frying
- Tongs
- Food Safe Grade Gloves (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Seasoned Flour (Seasoned with salt and white pepper)
- 2 Eggs Beaten
- 1.5 cup Panko Bread crumps (Possibly extra)
- 4-5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Oil For frying
Katsu Sauce
- 1/8 cup Shoyu Sauce
- 2.5 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Ketchup
Guide:
- Heat up your frying oil to 350F – We like to use shallow deep fry method but you can also deep deep fry it if you like.
- Prepare your seasoned flour, eggs and panko in 3 separate dishes.
- Dredge chicken thigh in seasoned flour.
- Pro Tip Try to keep one hand for dry steps and the other for wet steps.
- Next, place floured chicken in your beaten eggs and use the other hand (wet hand) to mix it so that all the flour bits are gone and it’s coated in with egg.
- Grab a handful of panko with the dry hand and place the chicken in the panko dish, sprinkling the top with the bread crumbs you grabbed.
- Pro Tip Try to press and pack the panko in as tight as you can!
- Repeat for all remaining chicken thighs.
- When ready to fry, place your first breaded chicken into your frying oil. Once the bottom is a nice golden brown flip it over and continue to cook.
- Once the chicken gets to 158F of internal temperature remove and let rest. Carry over cooking will get it to the proper 165F.
- Repeat frying process to the rest of your breaded chicken.
- Plate with your rice, some shredded cabbage as a bed for the katsu and the mac salad (Hawaiian Mac Salad guide here).
Katsu Sauce
- Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix/whisk well.
- Taste the sauce. See below if you run into any of these sauce issues.
- Pro Tip – Too Salty: Add a little water with an extra sprinkle of sugar. Too Sweet: Add a little shoyu and worcestershire sauce to balance. Alternately, you can squeeze some citrus to cut some of the sweetness.
Try it With:
- For a darker sauce or using this method with pork or beef, a thicker and bolder tonkatsu sauce would be more suitable. Try changing the ratio to have a little more worcestershire sauce and less shoyu/substitute shoyu for oyster sauce.
- For a spicy chicken katsu, season your flour with some cayenne and chili powder, add your favorite hot sauce to the sauce, or you can add a little wasabi to the katsu sauce for another level of flavor.
Tools Used To Make This Dish*
- Duxtop Portable Induction Cooktop
- Cutting Board: Boos Block Edge Grain
- Cuisinart Stainless Steel Pans
*I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
