Katsudon

Katsudon is one of my favorite chicken and rice dishes. It is extremely similar to oyakodon, except you use a piece of chicken katsu instead of water cooking the chicken. Another really popular way to make this is with a pork cutlet instead of chicken.

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Chicken Katsu for katsudon

There are 3 main components to making the perfect chicken katsu. The chicken, breading, and frying.

Chicken:

Personally, I decided to use chicken breast because I am able to flatten it and make it more even than other cuts. Chicken thighs won’t look as even but will stay juicier.

Another very popular protein to use is a pork cutlet. Pork loins can be smashed and flattened even more even than chicken breast.

Breading:

With the breading, there are three stations, a corn starch, egg wash, and panko bread crumbs.

Initially, you want to coat completely into he corn starch. This will make the surface of the chicken cutlet more dry and easier to absorb more egg wash. The more egg wash that sticks onto the chicken, the better the panko bread crumbs will stick onto the chicken.

Panko bread crumbs are more crunchy and absorb less oil than regular bread crumbs. These breadcrumbs are essential to getting the perfect katsu.

Frying

Frying the chicken is simple, but there are a few tips and tricks to make it is perfectly golden.

1. Make sure your oil is hot enough before adding the cutlet into the oil. This will allow the breadcrumbs to stick onto the chicken better.

1. After flipping, if you see spots on your cutlet that are lighter than others, baste the lighter parts with the oil and it will darken much more.

Dashi broth in katsudon

Dashi or chicken stock is important as a base of flavor for this dish. If you don’t have any type of stock then you can just use water but I would highly recommend using one of these two. Dashi specifically adds a very umami flavor to it, almost similar to miso soup. This works extremely well with the rice. How I make my dashi stock is by mixing dashi powder in boiling water. Dashi powder are concentrated granules of dashi which look like this:

Importance of a non-stick pan

Using a non-stick pan is essential when making Japanese style eggs to achieve the perfect texture and presentation. The non-stick surface ensures that the delicate egg mixture doesn’t stick to the pan, allowing you to effortlessly swirl and shape the eggs into the iconic tornado shape. Additionally, a non-stick pan requires less oil or butter for cooking, resulting in a lighter and healthier dish. This feature also simplifies the process of flipping and transferring the eggs without breaking or sticking, enabling you to create beautifully formed tornado eggs with ease. Whether you’re a seasoned chef or a home cook, investing in a quality non-stick pan ensures consistent results and enhances the visual appeal of your Japanese tornado eggs.

If you enjoyed this one, check out some more amazing rice bowls here:

• Gyudon
• Oyakodon