The Chanel Chicken Katsu
I have been cooking this for well over 5 years. We call it Chanel’s special chicken at times because the first time I made it, was a week before her first birthday party. It went down so well that I agreed to slave away in the kitchen for hours and made enough for 30 individuals with plenty left over for the family to take home on the big day. It is a luxurious take on panko fried chicken as one of the main ingredients is Champagne! The crispy texture and beautiful colouring of the panko breadcrumbs leads onto an explosion of flavours, which are both sweet and savoury. Your tongue hasn’t danced until you try this.
Due to austerity measures this has been substituted, and Prosecco will have to suffice until we work out what Brexit will mean in terms of Champagne prices… We have many friends who do not take alcohol due to religious, dietary or other reasons and a mindful host will be sensitive to such requirements. A good alcohol free sparkling vine juice alternative like ‘Le Petit Beret Petillant Blanc de Blanc’ will be sufficient for cooking and drinking.
Ingredients
2kg Skinless Chicken breasts; cut into strips that are about 2cm thick.
Half a bottle of Prosecco or Champagne or non alcoholic sparkling white wine.
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar or 1 tbsp Balsamic glaze
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tbsp Ginger and Garlic Paste
1/4 cup Rice wine vinegar or Apple cider vinegar
1/2 bag of panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups of Veg or sunflower oil for frying, dependent on pan size
3 Egg whites.
Method
In a small pan add the hoisin sauce, tomato paste, ginger and garlic paste, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and the balsamic vinegar. Heat gently whilst stirring until they are well blended and start to rise. Set aside to cool down.
In a large bowl pour the cooled mixture over the chicken breasts, add the Prosecco. Cover and refrigerate in the marinade overnight.
The next day, gently beat the egg whites with the salt in a large bowl.
Dip the chicken strips in the beaten eggs, quickly in and out, so they are very thinly coated with it and immediately coat all sides with the panko bread crumbs.
Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes.
In a medium size heavy saucepan, heat the oil to about 365F.
Fry the chicken in batched, (too many and they will stick together)for at least 4 minutes.
Place the cooked chicken on paper towel/kitchen roll. This will soak the excess oil from the chicken.
We love our Chanel Chicken Katsu with sticky white rice, steamed broccoli, corn on the cob and Wagaya Pink pickled Sushi ginger. For a dipping condiment, we choose Sweet chilli sauce for its mild chilli kick.
Tip
I used to use butter milk, (500ml milk with 50g melted butter), but have started using egg whites as a gentle way of increasing the girls consumption and aid in, at the very least eventually growing out of it. It has been approved by the doctor so minimal amounts in cakes are also fine. Check with your doctor if you have an egg allergy before attempting or use the butter milk option.
Once the chicken has marinated you will notice that after draining the marinade, the chicken has acquired a dark colouring. As nice as it smells at this stage do not be tempted to taste raw chicken.
In Cardiff I purchase most of the eastern ingredients from the Cardiff Korean & Japanese food store on Woodville Road, Chinese on salisbury road and Dragons Chinese superstore on Cowbridge Road East.
