I am so excited to share this chicken katsudon recipe with you today! Chicken katsudon is a popular Japanese dish that consists of rice and breaded chicken, and also has onions, egg, and a yummy sauce. It is way easier to make than it looks and tastes so good.
Katsu chicken is found in several different Japanese dishes, including katsu curry, tonkatsu, etc. It is panko chicken that is generally deep fried. I like to bake mine, but you can deep fry if you’d like! Katsudon is also commonly made with pork, but I prefer chicken.
Growing up we had a Nintendo DS and had the game Cooking Mama, which was always one of my favorites. If you’ve never played it before, the idea of the game is that you get to cook several dishes and receive grades / stars for how well you do. The game is made by a Japanese company so most of the dishes are traditional Japanese dishes. I don’t remember if there was a chicken katsudon dish, but there was definitely a katsu dish because I remember breading the chicken and chopping it up. I was obsessed with that game and loved making katsu, but I’ve got to admit it’s even better making it in real life.
how to get crispy baked chicken katsu?
Deep frying the chicken is definitely the more traditional way to cook katsu, but I think deep frying is a pain and rarely do it. So, I wanted to find a good method to bake the chicken, without compromising on flavor / crispiness, and I found it!
The secret to getting crispy baked katsu is toasting the panko beforehand. When you buy panko breadcrumbs at the store it is not toasted and generally they toast in the hot deep frying oil. Since we are skipping that step, if we toast the panko first, we still get the crispiness with our baked chicken. Toasting the panko is really simple — add it to a pan over medium heat with a bit of oil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the panko is golden brown. That’s it! It makes all the difference with this chicken, trust me.
want to deep fry your chicken katsu?
If you would prefer to deep fry your chicken, more power to you! Add neutral oil to a pot and heat until the oil is 350 degrees. Carefully drop in your chicken and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes on each side!
what specialty items do i need to make this dish?
Though this dish may seem intimidating at first, there is only one specialty item you will need from an Asian market. This is the dashi broth / powder. Dashi is an important part of this dish, but if you don’t live near an Asian market you can buy it on Amazon! Other than the dashi, all the other elements of this dish can be found at a standard grocery store.
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chicken katsudon
ingredients
katsu chicken
- 1 large chicken breast
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 egg
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
remaining ingredients
- 1 cup white rice short or medium grain
- 1/2 large yellow onion
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp dashi soup stock powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 green onion chopped
instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the chicken breast in half, width wise, so you have two flat pieces of chicken.
- Next let's toast the panko. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add panko and stir. Continue to stir and cook until panko is toasted and golden brown. Take off the heat.
- Transfer the panko to a shallow bowl or plate. Add flour to another bowl, and 1 egg to another. Whisk the egg using a fork or whisk.
- Dip one piece of chicken in the flour, coating both sides. Shake off any extra flour then transfer the chicken to the egg bowl. Cover both sides in egg then transfer the the panko bowl. Once the chicken is coated in panko, transfer it to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining piece of chicken.
- Drizzle the chicken with a bit of olive oil then transfer to the oven. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until the temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees. Cut the chicken into small strips and set aside.
- To a bowl add 2 cups of water, dashi stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. Whisk until combined.
- Chop the onion into thin strips. Add half of the onions to a small pan with a drizzle of olive oil. After two minutes add half of the dashi stock mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes until the onions are mostly cooked.
- Carefully place one of the cooked chicken cutlets onto the top of the onions and broth. Whisk an egg in a small bowl and pour the egg over the chicken and onions. Cover the pan for 2 minutes to let the egg cook.
- Scoop half the rice into a bowl. Carefully transfer the chicken and onion mixture over the rice. There will be extra sauce that pours over the rice as well.
- Repeat with the remaining onions and chicken. If you have the space, you can prepare both chicken cutlets simultaneously in two pans.
- Top with chopped green onions and enjoy!
My husband loved it and said that it tastes like the real deal. He lived in Japan for 2 years and so every so often we attempt to make japanese food. I’m always hesitant since the recipes seem really complicated but this recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. We will definitely be making this again.
Yay! I’m so glad that your husband approved! And happy to hear it was straightforward to make. Thank you for the review!