Chicken katsu sando

If you have never heard of a japanese chicken katsu sando, allow me to break it down simply for you! Basically chicken katsu is a japanese type of fried chicken coated in panko bread crumbs to get extra crispy and golden and it’s drizzled with tonkatsu sauce, which is a japanese BBQ sauce.

Japanese sandos can be sweet or savory. Add chicken katsu and it’s a chicken katsu sando! Sandos typically come with the crusts removed, so you’re left with pillowy bread, traditionally japanese milk bread. All I could access near me was white sandwich bread, which works just as great if you can’t find milk bread near you.

Recipe serves 1 sando.

Ingredients:

2 slices of japanese milk bread, or sliced white bread, crusts removed

2 tsp kewpie mayo, or plain mayo

Tonkatsu sauce, aka Japanese BBQ sauce, or plain BBQ sauce

Chicken katsu:

1 chicken breast, preferably shaped for schnitzel

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 egg, whisked

2 tbsp panko bread crumbs

enough neutral oil to coat the bottom of a wok or pan

Purple cabbage slaw:

1/2 cup thinly sliced cabbage, green or purple

1 tsp kewpie mayo

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

pinch of salt

Pickled jalapeños:

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

Method:

To make the jalapeño pickle: add vinegar and honey to a small pot and bring the vinegar to a light simmer. You just want the vinegar to be hot. Once it’s hot, pour over the jalapeño in a heat-proof bowl and leave off to the side.

To make the cabbage slaw: massage the kewpie, salt and vinegar into the cabbage gently just enough to evenly coat it. Leave off to the side.

Coat the chicken: add flour, egg and panko to 3 separate plates. Have an extra plate ready for the breaded chicken cutlets to go on. Coat the chicken in flour first, shaking off any excess, then the egg, then panko, pressing down to get as much panko stuck to the chicken as you can. Shake off the excess gently and place on a clean plate.

To fry the chicken: bring a large fry pan or wok to very high heat with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan generously. It’s better to use a wok since the bottom of a wok isn’t as wide as a pan, so you can use less oil. Either way, bring the oil to a very high heat. Once it begins to smoke, add breaded chicken and fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until it is a golden brown. Once golden on both sides, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Fry one cutlet at a time.

To assemble: slice off the crusts from the bread. Optional to lightly toast the bread. Smear on 1 tsp of kewpie mayo onto each slice of bread. Add the chicken katsu, then drizzle over tonkatsu sauce all over the chicken. Add slaw on top, then as many jalapeños as you like. They lose some of their heat once pickled, so don’t worry! Place the second slice of bread over top and slice in half. Enjoy straight away!