Chicken Katsu - Baked!

Here's a simple twist to chicken katsu - baking it instead of frying it. Baking it reduces the oil in the food, because the panko crumbs absorb oil like a sponge when you pan/deep fry it. I like using the panko crumbs because it stays crunchy even when baked.

Verdict: It's not as moist as the pan/deep fried version, but most importantly it has lower fat content and it's still crunchy and yum. And your house won't smell too greasy from the frying! Alternatively, you can quickly dip the chicken pieces on both sides in oil, and baked for 20 minutes at 200C. This results in a more moist chicken than the sprayed ones.

Ingredients:

• chicken thigh fillet (remove extra fat outside and fat imbedded) or use chicken breast
• plain flour
• beaten egg (thinned w/ a tablespoon of water)
• japanese breadcrumbs (panko - avail in oriental stores)

Preheat oven to 200C or 180C (fan-forced).

Rub salt on the chicken pieces. Coat in flour, followed by egg, and lastly with the breadcrumbs. Spray with canola oil on both sides.
Lay pieces on racks on a baking tray. The racks raise the chicken pieces and prevent them from getting soggy. I just improvised and used whatever ovensafe racks (trivets/a wok rack). Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Serve with tonkatsu sauce (50:50 ketchup:worcestershire sauce) or with ketchup or with barbeque sauce. Oh, and if you like don't forget the wasabi or hot mustard too to mix in the sauce!

Agedeshi Tofu

Ingredients:

300g silken (or soft) tofu
1 T cornflour
1 1/2 T rice flour
canola oil for pan frying


Sauce:
250 ml dashi stock
3 T mirin
3 T kikkoman soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water

Garnish:
spring onions, sliced thinly
grated ginger
nori sheet, cut into 1-inch long narrow strips


Method:

1. Cut the tofu into blocks (1" x 1" x 2"). Dry on paper towels.
2. Heat oil in pan. Just before frying, coat evenly tofu with cornstarch. Pan fry each side of the tofu block. Drain excess oil on papertowel.
3. Mix all sauce ingredients in a saucepan placed on medium heat. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornflour in 1 T of water, and mix into the sauce. Stir frequently to avoid lumps forming. Thicken with some more cornflour mixture if you want it thicker.
4. Pour sauce in a bowl, place fried tofu in the centre and garnish with, spring onion, ginger and nori.

Salmon sashimi

Got a whole Tasmanian salmon from the markets today. It weighed about 3 kgs and I think it was the smallest amongst the lot, and anything weighing more than that would be a struggle for me to clean and keep. Took it home to my kitchen to scale and cut, and its sliminess made it very slippery to handle when still whole. I swore before that I wouldn't do this again, but the thought of having freshly prepared by me all-you-can-eat sashimi was worth today's effort. Eating suggestion: Dip fish in 1 part sesame oil + 3 parts soy sauce (try low sodium Kikkoman for dipping), place on a small mound of rice and roll them all in 1"x3" rectangles of nori sheets. This is a la Korean, and it's yum!

Definitely you'll see me do this fishy business again perhaps in a year's time.