Chicken katsu problem

[gfweb]

My chicken katsu is tasty but the breading falls off half of the pieces when I slice it.

 

I flour...egg wash...panko and fry.  Rest for 5 min and slice.

 

What am I doing wrong?

[robirdstx]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

My chicken katsu is tasty but the breading falls off half of the pieces when I slice it.

 

I flour...egg wash...panko and fry.  Rest for 5 min and slice.

 

What am I doing wrong?

I like to let my katsu rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes after breading and before frying. HTH.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

9 minutes ago, gfweb said:

My chicken katsu is tasty but the breading falls off half of the pieces when I slice it.

 

I flour...egg wash...panko and fry.  Rest for 5 min and slice.

 

What am I doing wrong?

This is boggling to me.   This dish is what we called "mashed, smashed chicken" while our son was young.    Requested at least once a week.   I don't ever remember then or now having breading fall off.    And my procedure was exactly yours.    A puzzlement, indeed.   We never intentionally let it rest before serving, and slicing takes place on individuals' plates.   

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

My chicken katsu is tasty but the breading falls off half of the pieces when I slice it.

 

I flour...egg wash...panko and fry.  Rest for 5 min and slice.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Not shopping from Modernist Pantry?  Modernist Pantry offers an arsenal of products to coerce fried breaded preparations to behave.

 

[gfweb]

17 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Not shopping from Modernist Pantry?  Modernist Pantry offers an arsenal of products to coerce fried breaded preparations to behave.

 

I have trisol but that's a crisp enhancer.

 

What doyou suggest?

[heidih]

In what fashion is it falling off - the entire bit of breading on sliced piece or crumble?  Are you getting an air pocket "poof" when frying like is often desired in Wienerschnitzel? - thus it separates when sliced rather than clinging tightly?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

19 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I have trisol but that's a crisp enhancer.

 

What doyou suggest?

 

Well, the only Modernist Pantry frying product I've used is EverCrisp, which may or may not be the same thing as Trisol.  EverCrisp coatings stay crisp until the end of time.  However my bedroom has a wealth of ingredients, including Modernist Pantry Batter Bind.  Batter Bind may be what you need:

 

https://modernistpantry.com/products/batter-bind-s.html

 

 

I have not yet used Batter Bind so I cannot actually recommend it.

 

 

 

 

[mgaretz]

It seems counter-intuitive, but the best results from the flour-egg wash-panko method is to start with dry chicken.

[MetsFan5]

You can just give it to me. I won’t have any issues 😊

[Duvel]

I second @mgaretz advise: start with a dry piece of meat. Do not presalt/preseason the meat directly, or add anything that draws moisture out of the meat. From my experience with Schnitzel present moisture leads to a „tighter“, more consistent breading that is much more likely to detach (via evaporating residual moisture) in much larger pieces from the meat. 

[TicTac]

Perhaps try a different knife?  Sometimes a bread knife will slice easier through coated items and ones with skin on.

[gfweb]

@robirdstx suggested 30 minutes in the fridge between breading and frying.

 

Two pieces of the same breast...top one was breaded and refrigerated and then fried and the bottom one was breaded and fried straightaway.

The refrigerated one had a more sturdy crust and sliced without shattering. The other had a more fragile crust and had some fall off after cutting. So chilling helped. Thanks!

Both were fried together...odd that the chilled one browned more.

 

 

 

 

[gfweb]

Might not be chilling that helped. Might just be the passage of time that allows the breading to mature or something.

 

Various katsu recipes on the webs don't mention resting or chilling though.

 

Anyone with restaurant experience able to comment on whether kitchens bread-up a bunch and store uncooked or do they do it ala minute?

[gfweb]

21 hours ago, heidih said:

In what fashion is it falling off - the entire bit of breading on sliced piece or crumble?  Are you getting an air pocket "poof" when frying like is often desired in Wienerschnitzel? - thus it separates when sliced rather than clinging tightly?

big chunks fall off

but no air pocket that I can see

[haresfur]

IMO your problem is that you are frying it. I've gone completely over to oven baking chicken katsu (and schnitzel/parma using the same method) using this technique. I do it in a fan-forced oven on a wire grill rack to get heat underneath the pieces.

 

TL;DR: Toast the panko in a little oil before breading and baking.

[Duvel]

7 hours ago, gfweb said:

Anyone with restaurant experience able to comment on whether kitchens bread-up a bunch and store uncooked or do they do it ala minute?

I‘ve got only passive restaurant knowledge: I have been to quite a few tonkatsu places in Japan and Hong Kong, including the ones that prepare the tonkatsu in front of you. It has always been prepared to order, including the coating. 

[Duvel]

In this regard, please have a look at this video, brief discussion on the frying process starts at around 5:30 min …

 

 

(the rest is informative as well)

[liuzhou]

When breading with panko, I always dry the meat, as suggested above. Then eggwash and into the panko, pressing the crumbs in. Refrigerate for a bit, then repeat the egg and panko and another short refrigeration. It may seem you would get too thick a crust, but maybe that's just the way I like it. I don't consider it too thick. It looks like the coating in @Duvel's video link.

[gfweb]

5 hours ago, Duvel said:

In this regard, please have a look at this video, brief discussion on the frying process starts at around 5:30 min …

 

 

(the rest is informative as well)

Very helpful.

 

He makes a comment that cold pork will make the breading fall off. Hmmm, more testing required.

 

Also says that wooden skewers help heat penetrate tough cuts. Wait a second...meat conducts heat better than wood !

[liuzhou]

22 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Also says that wooden skewers help heat penetrate tough cuts. Wait a second...meat conducts heat better than wood !

 

Yeah! I thought that was strange, but not the only strange thing.

[Duvel]

41 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Also says that wooden skewers help heat penetrate tough cuts. Wait a second...meat conducts heat better than wood !

I think he refers to the creation of holes by the skewers, implying a better circulation of the juices within the cooked meat.

[liuzhou]

12 minutes ago, Duvel said:

I think he refers to the creation of holes by the skewers, implying a better circulation of the juices within the cooked meat.

 

Yeah, but he still cooks it with the skewers in. I very much doubt that even if he pulled them out it would make much difference, but if the skewers are still place, there are no holes! Just meat with bits of wood in it.

[gfweb]

@Duvel it looks like no knives are needed for this tonkatsu even though there are cuts Id think would be too tough to bite through easily. 

Does he trim the meat so toughness is minimized?

[Duvel]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

@Duvel it looks like no knives are needed for this tonkatsu even though there are cuts Id think would be too tough to bite through easily. 

Does he trim the meat so toughness is minimized?

To be honest: I have never seen anyone eating tonkatsu with a knife. It gets slices into suitable portions to be picked up with chopsticks, and then eaten in 2-3 bites …

 

Concerning the meat trimming - he does mention that he removes sinews and chooses the pieces of his menu for tenderness (while other cuts don’t make it on the menu because of lach thereof …).

[KennethT]

In the past, I haven't been a huge fan of tonkatsu - but after seeing this video I may be a convert!  I need to start making it at home so I don't overcook the crap out of it, as is the tendency of restaurants here.  Just seeing that slightly pink, ridiculously juicy meat with the crisp crust... holy crap - I'm going to go take a cold shower...