Once again, we are looking at various recipes we will be featuring on our Japan & Korea cruise next year. Apart from Japanese and Korean dishes we will be serving our usual great variety of our modern Jewish cuisine, plus some old favorites. A very simple, but traditional Japanese dish this time.

Chicken Katsu in sweet and sour sauce.

Chicken katsu (chicken cutlet), also known as panko chicken, is a Japanese dish of fried chicken made with panko bread crumbs.

Ingredients 

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded to ½-inch thickness
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup oil for frying, or as needed

Method

1. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Place flour, beaten egg, and panko crumbs into separate dishes. Coat chicken breasts in flour, dip into egg, and then place into panko crumbs until well coated..
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the hot oil, and fry until golden brown, 3 or 4 minutes per side. Drain before serving.

For the sweet and sour sauce

• 2/3 cup  honey
• 1/3 cup  Soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup vinegar
• 3 teaspoons   
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1. Combine all of the ingredients and heat till it just comes to the boil. Simmer and stir constantly for about 5 minutes.
2. The sauce can then be poured over the katsu or just used as a warm dipping sauce.