JAPANESE CHICKEN KATSU CURRY

For this recipe I used the "Farmer to Market" high quality free range chicken which is available in Supervalu. "Farmers to Market" is a group of 12 Irish farmers from the Cavan and Monaghan area who formed a partnership with Manor Farm Chicken processors to provide free range chickens to Supervalu.

Celebrity chef Nevin McGuire interviewed one of the farmers (Kennett Hall) from Cavan as part of his RTE Home Chef programme. During Nevin's interview with Kennett he was told that the chickens roam freely during the day on green pastures and are fed a diet free of antibiotics and hormones. Click here to see the interview on youtube.

A few months ago I heard a very educational interview on the radio between Suzanne Campbell and Pat Kenny about the Irish chicken industry, the complicated supply chain of imported chicken and the issues that surround it. Click here to listen to this interview aired on 29 January 2013 12:00 called "Chicken - do you know if you are getting Irish produced chicken or not".

Serves 4 

INGREDIENTS:

A. Chicken Katsu (breaded chicken)
4 x chicken breasts (preferably free range or organic)
Plain flour (for coating the chicken breast)
2 x egg, beaten (preferably free range or organic)
Panko breadcrumbs (can use normal breadcrumbs)
Salt & pepper (to season chicken)

B. Curry Sauce
Large garlic clove (peeled and finely diced)
Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
Large carrot (peeled and cut into bite size pieces)
Large potato (peeled and cut into bite size pieces)
4 cubes Japanese curry (half a pack 120g)
700ml cold water
Vegetable oil, for frying and deep frying
Pickled vegetables or ginger (optional to garnish) 

C. Rice
320g uncooked rice

A. HOW TO MAKE THE CURRY SAUCE

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a heavy based saucepan on medium heat and fry the garlic and onions for a few minutes.
2. Add the carrots and potatoes. Mix all the ingredients together in the saucepan. Fry for a few minutes on medium heat.
3. Pour 700ml of cold water into the saucepan, place the lid on the saucepan and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are cooked (about 15 minutes).  Start to boil the rice now.
4. Cut the curry paste into square pieces and place in a cup and add some of the water from the saucepan and mix using a fork or small whisk removing any lumps. Add to the saucepan and stir using a wooden spoon. Let it simmer until you are satisfied with the consistency of the curry (5 minutes or less). If it's too thick then just add a little water.
   
   

   

   Japanese S&B curry can be bought in Asian markets

B. HOW TO MAKE THE CHICKEN KATSU (BREADED CHICKEN)

1. Cut the chicken breasts into 2 thin halves like a butterfly cut (this will allow the chicken to cook through faster in the oil).
2. Coat the chicken breast slices in flour, dip in the beaten egg and cover in panko breadcrumbs.
3. Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy based saucepan to 170 degrees Celsius.
4. Place a bit of panko into the oil to check if the oil is hot enough. 
5. Gently place the breaded chicken breast into the oil. Fry for a few minutes until the panko turns a nice golden brown colour and then turn over and fry for another few minutes.
6. Remove from the oil and place on kitchen towel.
7. Cut into bite size pieces while it's still hot.
8. Serve on a plate with boiled rice and curry sauce. 

C. HOW TO PREPARE AND COOK JAPANESE RICE

Click here to see my post on how to prepare and cook Japanese rice. If you don't have Japanese rice you can use another type of rice for this recipe. 

Easy Japanese Chicken Curry Recipe

Japanese curry is unbelievably popular among Japanese people. There are curry restaurants all over Japan and Japanese family restaurants will always have a few curry dishes on the menu. Japanese curry tends to be sweeter and not as spicy as Indian curry. 

In this recipe I'm using S&B instant curry paste so it doesn't take long to prepare and tastes great! This particular brand is very popular in Japan. I bought this in the Asian supermarket which is located on Drury Street in Dublin and Merrywell Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12.  They stock S&B curry paste mild, medium and hot.

The meat and vegetable measurements below are just a general guide to make this curry but you can add less or more depending on what you prefer.

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
250g chicken breast (cut into bite sized cubes) 

2 medium carrots (cut into bite sized cubes)

1 medium potato (cut into bite sized cubes) 

700ml water 

120g curry paste (half pack)

Instructions: 

1. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan on medium heat and fry the onions for a few minutes and remove from saucepan.  
2. Add a little more oil to the saucepan if necessary and turn the heat to high. Place the chicken pieces in the saucepan and brown on both sides to seal the flavour.
3. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes and mix all the ingredients together in the saucepan. Fry for a few minutes on medium heat to allow the vegetables to absorb the flavour of the chicken.
   
4. Pour 700ml of water into the saucepan, place the lid on the saucepan and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are cooked (about 15 minutes). 
5. Cut the curry paste into square pieces and place in a cup and add some of the water from the saucepan and mix using a fork or small whisk removing any lumps. Add to the saucepan and stir using a wooden spoon. Let it simmer until you are satisfied with the consistency of the curry (5 minutes or less). If it's too thick then just add a little water.

Serves 4-6 people

How to eat: 

Serve on a plate with rice on one side of the plate and the curry on the other side of the plate. Then place a little pickled vegetable on the side of the plate.

Tips: 

1. Use chicken leg or thigh instead of chicken breast as it's not as dry, is cheaper and tastes better!
2. Add chilli if you like a bit of a kick in your curry! 
3. If there's any leftover curry either freeze (probably best to avoid freezing the potato pieces) or use it for a bowl of curry noodles!

Why not: 

Add your favourite meat (beef, pork etc), seafood (shrimp, prawn) or a meat alternative such as tofu or your favourite vegetables (broccoli, sweet potato, peppers, aubergine).