Who doesn’t want a tender chicken katsu glazed with curry sauce served right in front of them? Our chicken katsu curry recipe is what you have been looking for 😉
Forget about your regular chicken katsu – you need to try chicken katsu curry!
When the famous Coco Ichibanya opened in Indonesia more than 5 years ago, I was ready to be the first in line. This Japanese chain restaurant has been on my radar and is popular for their amazing curry sauce. Of course, I had to order their famous chicken katsu curry and I did not leave with a single ounce of regret.
From there, I have always wanted to make this in my home kitchen and we are excited to share our version of chicken katsu curry with you!
Why chicken katsu and curry? It’s all about texture!
If you’ve never tried this combo before, it might seem a little odd. Why drench the crispy chicken katsu in a curry sauce? Well, for starters, the two opposing textures balances each other! The explosion of flavor is also another thing we are going for. Chicken katsu by itself can be a bit bland, but combine that with curry sauce and you get the perfect duo.
The Curry
To start, let’s talk about the curry. You can definitely make your own curry sauce, but because we love to keep things as simple as possible without sacrificing taste, we opted to use both curry powder and curry blocks (you can find them at your local grocery store).
Because we are not cooking the curry sauce from scratch, all you have to do is to bring a cup of water to boil and add the curry blocks. Once the curry blocks have dissolved, stir and add the curry powder. The curry powder gives the curry sauce a more intense taste which we like – so add as much or as little to your liking. You can make the curry sauce before cooking the chicken katsu and let it simmer while you are working on the chicken.
The secret to a crispy chicken katsu
Cooking chicken katsu is really easy, but making a chicken katsu with crispy outer layer and tender meat inside requires this (not so) secret ingredient: cornstarch! But before we jump into that step, we need to marinade the chicken first for at least 30 minutes to give it some flavor. Marinading it is pretty simple, all you need is salt, pepper and the optional cooking wine. Don’t forget to tenderize the chicken after marinating it!
Now comes the fun part of coating the chicken katsu!
You would usually coat chicken katsu with flour, egg and panko (breadcrumbs). Just by mixing the flour with cornstarch, you can get that crispy layer which I’m sure we all love! For my food nerds out there who are curious why cornstarch makes it crispy: it’s because cornstarch breaks the formation of gluten. Gluten’s texture is tough and chewy – which is not what we want in our chicken katsu curry.
Now back to our chicken katsu! Place whisked egg, cornstarch and flour mix, and panko in separate bowls. Then, start coating your chicken, starting with the flour mix, egg and lastly the panko. Ensure that the chicken is coated evenly on all sides.
Let’s fry the chicken katsu!
Here comes the fun part of frying our chicken katsu! In a pan, add your cooking oil on medium heat. You will need plenty of oil to ensure that your chicken is fried evenly on all sides. It doesn’t have to submerge the meat because we are going to flip it.
Once the oil is warm and ready, lower the heat to medium low and place your coated chicken on the pan. We want to lower the heat when using breadcrumbs because it burns easily. We want the panko to be able to stand the heat long enough until the chicken is fully cooked. Cook for about 6 minutes and then flip and fry for another 6 minutes.
By now you should get a golden crispy chicken katsu. After the chicken is fully cooked, take it off the heat place it on a cooling rack while we assemble some side dishes.
Side dish: Seasoned Cabbage and Rice
These side dishes are totally optional but highly recommended to get the full experience of enjoying your chicken katsu curry 😉 We love adding cabbage, sliced thinly with some salt, pepper and sesame oil. Pretty simple, right? And of course, rice is a staple in our kitchen!
Enjoy your chicken katsu curry!
Before assembling everything on your plate, cut your chicken katsu that was on the cooling rack into thin strips. Place your rice, seasoned cabbage and chicken katsu on a plate. Then, pour the curry sauce over the chicken katsu.
Enjoy and don’t forget to let us know in the comments what you think!
ingredients:
CHICKEN KATSU
- 1 boneless and skinless chicken leg
- 1 tsp salt (separate ½ tsp)
- 1 tsp pepper (separate ½ tsp)
- 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)
- ¾ cups flour
- ¼ cups cornstarch
- 1 cup of panko bread
- 1 egg (whisked)
- 1 cup cooking oil
CURRY SAUCE
- 1 block Japanese curry
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp curry powder
steps:
- First remove any excess fat from the chicken leg. Then, season the surface of the chicken leg with salt and pepper and Chinese cooking wine. Place it in a container and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
- After the chicken is marinated, remove it from the fridge and pat dry. Tenderize the chicken by placing a layer of cling wrap on a chopping board. Place the chicken on top of the cling wrap and add another layer of cling wrap on top of the meat. Use a meat mallet to tenderize.
- In a separate bowl, pour flour, cornstarch, ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of black pepper. Then, thoroughly combine until it is completely mixed.
- Next, prepare the whisked egg in one bowl and the panko breading in another bowl.
- Now, you are going to coat the chicken. First, dip the chicken in the flour mixture. Next, the egg mixture. Lastly, coat the chicken in panko breadcrumbs. Make sure the chicken is completely coated.
- On a pan, heat the cooking oil at medium heat. Once the oil is warm enough, fry the chicken at low-medium heat for 6-8 mins on each side (or until it is crispy and brown)
- Lastly, let it rest on a rack for 5 minutes and then slice the chicken into strips. Serve with rice and seasoned cabbage. Enjoy!
Chicken Katsu Curry
Ingredients
Chicken Katsu
- 1 boneless and skinless chicken leg about 4 oz
- 1 tsp salt (separate ½ tsp)
- 1 tsp pepper (separate ½ tsp)
- 1 tsp Chinese cooking wine optional
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg whisked
- 1 cup cooking oil
Curry Sauce
- 1 block Japanese curry
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp curry powder
Instructions
- First remove any excess fat from the chicken leg. Then, season the surface of the chicken leg with salt and pepper and Chinese cooking wine. Place it in a container and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
- After the chicken is marinated, remove it from the fridge and pat dry. Tenderize the chicken by placing a layer of cling wrap on a chopping board. Place the chicken on top of the cling wrap and add another layer of cling wrap on top of the meat. Use a meat mallet to tenderize.
- In a separate bowl, pour flour, cornstarch, ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of black pepper. Then, thoroughly combine until it is completely mixed.
- Next, prepare the whisked egg in one bowl and the panko breading in another bowl.
- Now, you are going to coat the chicken. First, dip the chicken in the flour mixture. Next, the egg mixture. Lastly, coat the chicken in panko breadcrumbs. Make sure the chicken is completely coated.
- On a pan, heat the cooking oil at medium heat. Once the oil is warm enough, fry the chicken at low-medium heat for 6-8 mins on each side (or until it is crispy and brown)
- Lastly, let it rest on a rack for 5 minutes and then slice the chicken into strips. Serve with rice and seasoned cabbage. Enjoy!
