CRUNCH TIME

Fried chicken is adored all over the word, whether hot chicken or a parma, and Japan is no different, with its contributions to the canon known as katsu and karaage.

Shaun Presland from Sake restaurant group says katsu is slang for “cutlet” and refers to a breaded meat — usually chicken, pork or beef — while karaage is chicken fried crunchy thanks to potato starch.

“The origin of katsu is pretty cool,” Shaun says.

“During WWII the Japanese couldn’t bake conventional bread, so they developed a process for cooking bread using electric current.

“This created a crust-less loaf that when shredded and lightly toasted, gives long crispy and light breadcrumbs that don’t absorb much oil when fried.

“The breadcrumbs adhere to the protein using the classic flour-egg-crumb process.”

It’s these Japanese breadcrumbs called panko — larger and coarser than those in western cooking — that provides katsu’s amped-up crunch.

The key with making katsu at home is similar to any crumbing process.

Set up three bowls — one filled with plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper, another with two eggs lightly beaten with about 100ml milk, and the third filled with panko (available in most supermarkets or at specialty Japanese/Asian grocers).