Yōshoku comfort food カツカレー

Chicken Katsu Curry

Crisp panko-crumbed chicken, fluffy rice and a thick, mellow Japanese curry sauce.

Active 35 min

Rest 20 min chicken chills, rice stands

Cook 35 min on the hob

Oven 100°C fan keep-warm only

Serves 2

Ingredients

servings · 1× recipe

Pans and dishes

Explore the Tradition

Six short stories behind the dish.

Where “katsu” comes from

Katsu is short for katsuretsu, a Japanese rendering of the English word “cutlet”, which itself came from the French côtelette. In Japanese cooking, breaded and fried meat such as pork, beef or chicken is called katsu, while breaded fried fish and prawns are called furai. Add ton, meaning pig, and you get tonkatsu, the pork version.

Source: Wikipedia, Tonkatsu

Method

Tips

Storage. Keep the sauce in a lidded container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Cool leftover rice within an hour, refrigerate it and eat it within 24 hours. Cutlets are best fresh; reheat on a rack at 180°C fan for 10–15 minutes until piping hot.
Freezing. The sauce freezes well for up to 3 months. The potato softens, so blend it smooth if you prefer. Crumbed raw cutlets can be frozen flat on a tray, then bagged, for up to a month if the chicken was not previously frozen. Defrost fully in the fridge before frying.
Baked, not fried. Spray the crumbed cutlets with oil, set them on a wire rack over a tray and bake at 200°C fan for 20–25 minutes, turning once, until golden and 75°C in the centre.
Variations. Use pork loin steaks for tonkatsu, or 1cm slices of aubergine or tofu for a vegetarian plate. Choose a medium-hot roux for more heat, or add a splash of water for a lighter sauce.
Microwave rice (150g). Rinse 150g rice and put it in a large bowl with 200ml cold water, loosely covered. Microwave at 1000W for 4 minutes, then at 300–350W for 10 minutes, then stand covered for 10 minutes. Powers vary, so check your packet.