Japanese Cooking and Sake Live vol.17

Products used in "Japanese Cooking and Sake Live vol.17"

 

Kushikatsu

Kushikatsu is a Japanese dish of skewered meat and vegetables, deep fried with fine breadcrumbs ‘panko’ for crispiness. The ingredients are prepared into bite-size, it is often cooked with the guests around the table. Dipping sauce is intense and spicy with mild acidity.

 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

4 Quail Egg

2 Mushrooms

2 Asparagus

1 Aubergine

1 Banana Shallot

 

A: Dipping sauce

30ml                 Worcester Sauce

10ml                 Mirin

30ml                 Tonkatsu Sauce

10ml                 Soy Sauce

10ml                 Tomato Ketchup

5ml                   Sugar

 

Kushikatsu Batter

50g                  Plain Flour

1                      Egg

70ml                 Water 

30g                  Panko Breadcrumbs

200ml               Vegetable oil


You need about 20 bamboo skewers

  1. Prepare the ingredients
  • Quail Egg (cook in the boiling water for 2 minutes, remove shells)
  • Mushrooms (cut into bite size if large)
  • Asparagus (cut off the bottom end, then cut into 5cm length)
  • Aubergine (cut into a 1.5cm thick disc, then cut into quarter to make 4 pieces)
  • Banana Shallot (cut into 1cm thick discs to make 4 pieces)
  1. Make dipping sauce
    • Add all ingredients in A into a small saucepan, mix and bring to a brief light boil. Turn off the heat and rest.
  2. Make Kushikatsu batter
    • Whisk the egg in a bowl, add water and whisk lightly.
    • Add the plain flour to the above and mix until it becomes a smooth light batter.
  3. Prepare panko breadcrumbs
    • Prepare a small bowl or tray and add the panko breadcrumbs. Kushikatsu works the best if the breadcrumbs are crumbled down to semi fine powders. You may crush them with hands or use blender.
  4. Skewer each ingredient with a bamboo stick. For the quail eggs and asparagus, skewer 2 or 3 in a stick, but for the other ingredients skewer one each, on the sharp end of the stick.
  5. Preheat a small deep-frying pan or saucepan to 170°C with enough oil to cover the ingredients.
  6. Applying the batter and panko breadcrumbs
    • In order to make Kushikatsu, you need to coat the ingredients in the batter first before applying the breadcrumbs. Dip the ingredients to the batter completely. The batter should be light and runny.
    • Transfer the above to a tray of panko breadcrumbs, turn it around to coat all around.
  7. Cook Kushikatsu
    • Simply drop the skewers into the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they are cooked. If possible, keep the end of the skewers outside the oil so it will be easier for you to pull them out when cooked. The surface should be slightly brown and incredibly crispy while the inside should be soft and juicy.
  8. Serve immediately with the Kushikatsu dipping sauce on the side.