Panko

[researchgal]

I'm making roasted crispy asparagus tonite that have a Panko (japanese breadcrumbs) crust on them (recipe from Boston Globe this week).  I was just wondering if others have used Panko, and what else I can use it for--should I use it like I would use typical breadcrumbs?  These crumbs are supposed to be lighter and more delicate than the standard ones.  Any suggestions?

[Jason Perlow]

Fried shrimp and scallops. Fried mushrooms. Fried pork cutlets with tonkatsu sauce.

Use em just like you would any breadcrumb.

[Liza]

Lovely as an extra crunchy outside to crab cakes.

[Priscilla]

Panko use always seems like cheating, excepting the dishes I started in on them with, tonkatsu, say, and other Japanese fried items, as mentioned by Jason above.

Every single time I use 'em, seems like cheating.  So far this has not been a deterrent to their seeing action in my kitchen, early and often, on account of how GOOD they are.  And I can heartily encourage the above Liza suggestion of panko for crab cakes, too, or pan-fried fish, or similar.  

I don't use commercial breadcrumbs, well, OTHER commercial breadcrumbs, but The Magic of Panko is sometimes just the thing.

Priscilla

[TheBoatMan]

Like Liza, I love to use them when making crab cakes.

[Suzanne F]

In preparation for making tonkatsu, I bought a bag of panko. Now, I know how to bread food for frying, and the instructions (pictures with captions) confirm what I expected to do. Except for the first picture: it appears to spraying water onto a bowl of .... ???? A later picture shows a similar bowl with food being dipped into an egg/milk mixture (in between coating the food with flour and later with panko.

All the printing on the bag is in Japanese, so I don't even know what brand it is. Can someone tell me what that first step is, and whether I'll fail if I leave it out? (Later steps are season the food; coat in flour; dip in egg/milk; coat with panko; fry.)

Thanks for your help.

PS: I also bought a bottle of Kikkoman Tonkatsu sauce; maybe another time I'll try Jinmyo's recipe.

Edited January 12, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[tommy]

i read some japanese and my bag suggests to:

roll your meat in tempura batter mix or flour and coat evenly.

dip into a mixture of one beaten egg, 2-3 T water, and a dash of salt.

roll in pako. apply liberally and fry.

although, it seems so obvious that it probably doesn't answer your question.

Edited January 12, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Suzanne F]

Actually, it might. Maybe that first step is the tempura batter? Then again, ?? Thanks for trying, though.

[Jinmyo]

Suzanne, I can't see your bag from here. I'm not sure what you are describing as the first picture so I don't know what your question is.

But for tonkatsu, flour, egg or egg/milk, panko is fine.

[Suzanne F]

Thank you for the answer, Jinmyo. Maybe I should have scanned in the bag, but if you say just those steps are okay, I won't worry.

Just realized: I can show the bag to the fish man at the store where I got it; he'll be able to tell me.

[Anna N]

PS: I also bought a bottle of Kikkoman Tonkatsu sauce; maybe another time I'll try Jinmyo's recipe. 

Jinmyo: I have done a search for your recipe for Tonkatsu sauce with no success. Can you point me to the thread. I have some boneless pork and everything else I need and I have made Tonkatsu previously. But the sauce can make or break it in my humble opinion. Love to see (and hopefully use) your recipe. Thanks

Anna

[Jinmyo]

Anna, I don't really do recipes just procedures, so I hope this will do:

I caramalize dicced apples and onions with a bit of ginger. Add half as much tamarind and twice as much mirin. Puree. Strain. To this add equal amount of shoyu. Season with white pepper, sometimes with a bit of chile.

note:

It was on the Dinner thread, around page 65.

[Anna N]

Anna, I don't really do recipes just procedures, so I hope this will do:

I caramalize dicced apples and onions with a bit of ginger. Add half as much tamarind and twice as much mirin. Puree. Strain. To this add equal amount of shoyu. Season with white pepper, sometimes with a bit of chile.

note:

It was on the Dinner thread, around page 65.

Thank you.

[msp]

In Shizuo Tsuji's classic , "Japanese Cooking, A simple Art", he sprinkles pork with salt and pepper, then dredges in flour, followed by egg, then panko. For the sauce he calls for a combination of the following, mixed to taste: ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, dark say sauce, prepared mustard and sake.

Tsuji says that, like tempura, tonkatsu is a dish imported from the West. It is derived from the European breaded cutlet, but deep fried. He also suggsts it is commonly served with commercial sauce, and usually served laid against shredded raw cabbage.

[Anna N]

In Shizuo Tsuji's classic , "Japanese Cooking,  A simple Art", he sprinkles pork with salt and pepper, then dredges in flour, followed by egg, then panko. For the sauce he calls for a combination of the following, mixed to taste: ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, dark say sauce, prepared mustard and sake.

Tsuji says that, like tempura, tonkatsu is a dish imported from the West. It is derived from the European breaded cutlet, but deep fried. He also suggsts it is commonly served with commercial sauce, and usually served laid against shredded raw cabbage.

Thanks, msp. This is how I did it before and the sauce I made was close to the one you have outlined.

I did not succeed in making a "sauce" with Jinmyo's process, but I did wind up with a most interesting "relish" or perhaps "chutney" and since we eat a Danish dish of apples, onions and pork, I think I just crossed a Japanese (probably Dutch or other European, originally) with a Danish dish and came up with something I will want to repeat!

[Jinmyo]

Anna, the sauce needs to be strained until smooth. I'm glad that you liked it.

[Kikujiro]

Sounds like a job for Kikko-Man.

[Akiko]

Kikujiro,

That's hysterical... how do you find these things?!

Which made me think, hey, what's wrong with Bull Dog Tonkatsu sauce? I guess its kind of like the ketchup conversation we were having concerning the curry...

tonkatsu would not be the same to me without the flavour of bull dog tonkatsu sauce... its kind of like deciding you are going to make your own ketchup instead of just using heinz... no offence to Jinmyo's sauce... If jinnie made it, I'm sure I'd be spooning it into my mouth straight.

However, with tonkatsu give me bulldog and yellow mustard and I'm in heaven.

[Kikujiro]

Kikujiro,

That's hysterical... how do you find these things?!

Give me a broadband connection and no life and I can work wonders.

[Suzanne F]

Sounds like a job for Kikko-Man.

[Jinmyo]

Kiku, heh.

Akiko, I guess it depends on how one regards or serves tonkatsu. For a quick bowl of katsudon, a bottled sauce is fine. But I would serve tonkatsu as part of a meal with at least five courses.

[Akiko]

Suzanne,

Your reaction is exactly how my husband reacted...

And for your next foray into tonkatsu... have you ever had katsu-kare or tonkatsu with curry poured over it? It's sort of the Japanese answer for country fried steak with gravy poured over it!

Very good and very filling.

[Suzanne F]

Thanks for the suggestion, Akiko. I always find those curry mixes a bit on the salty side, but I just might try it.

BTW, it was the cat and the girl in bed that provoked the and

[bushey]

Coat asparagus spears in mayonnaise seasoned with salt and pepper, roll the spears in panko and roast in a hot oven about 15 minutes, until tender.

Yum, yum.

[Akiko]

Have we ever had a thread on the uses of panko?

It really is an amazing product, up there on my list of heavenly creations like bacon and butter.

....anyone care to start one?