Hello everyone,
Today I am writing a post which is long overdue, my battle between takeaway, eating out and homemade, with this week’s star dish being the Chicken Katsu Curry.
The reason why I have chosen this is because it seems to be rather trendy at the moment with more food outlets opening up with this as a staple on their menus.
Takeaway:
My favourite katsu curry takeaway (so far) is actually Kokoro in Kingston:
The sauce from Kokoro has a deep flavour and if you ask nice enough they will give it to you in layers (i.e. rice, sauce, chicken, rice, sauce, chicken, sauce). So it’s safe to say you can get a good coating. Their sauce is beautifully balanced with spice and has a slight kick to it. I personally find the sauce is perfect in thickness but manages to not be too rich in flavour, which means you don’t feel guilty when you eat lots of it! The chicken is always beautifully juicy and the portion of rice is to die for.
Kokoro: 9/10 (would be 10 if there were more accessible outlets)
Noble mention here goes to Yo Sushi! who do a Katsu curry which I have ordered on Deliveroo before. The portion size was good and the Katsu was quite nice, lacking in that special something, though. Despite taking 10 minutes to be delivered to my flat the actual chicken was not dry in comparison to Wasabi’s.
Yo Sushi!: 6/10
Poor Katsu goes to Wasabi. I personally find that their Katsu is very bland and lacking in the flavour that is needed to carry the plain chicken and rice. The chicken in Wasabi is a little dry as it’s clearly fried in bulk and left on the side, which is the main reason why I rate Wasabi so poorly. The Katsu curry can also taste, for lack of a better word, old, as they tend to have bento boxes on the side to be reheated. If you can find a Wasabi that do fresh Katsu, then this is slightly better… (NB if you’re going to Wasabi I would recommend the sweet chilli chicken, it’s soooo much tastier!)
Wasabi: 4/10 (fresh Katsu 6/10).
BONUS one. There used to be a market by Goodge St station. Here there was a stand that sold Korean Fried Chicken, and sometimes had a Katsu sauce. Now this wasn’t exactly the same, but the chicken was soooo juicy it needed a mention:
The chicken was so juicy and delicious. The sauce was too sweet for me, but with the addition of Sriracha was very pleasant. I wouldn’t call this a “Katsu” though.
Eat-in:
The obvious choice here would be to review Wagamama’s Katsu because not only was it the place that introduced Katsu to my family and I but I also think it’s a staple on their menu. I personally have only ever ordered a Katsu from Wagamama once, and I was sadly disappointed. The sauce is slightly lighter in colour than I was expecting and I think this was most likely due to lack of soy sauce in the curry. This component missing made me feel like the sauce was incomplete, and was too sweet – missing the saltiness (from soy) and potential chilli heat from a spicier curry powder. If you’re a fan of mild curries though, I imagine you’ll like this one.
NB: I’ve heard Wagamama can do a spicier Katsu, and I am interested to try the sauce and see if it is better – there is potential here.
The chicken at Wagamama is quite good, isn’t too try and has a lovely golden coating on it. The one thing I will say is that the Japanese rice which comes with it was PERFECTLY cooked and you did get a lot of rice for the price, which being the carb queen that I am, I loved.
Wagamama: 7/10. I think the sauce needs more oomf BUT this could be the case for the spicier sauce…? I’ll keep you posted.
Home:
Here is where I may become a little bit biased but I have my own recipe for a Katsu curry and it is pretty darn good, even if I do say so myself. I have adapted my recipe from the Good Housekeeping’s one which I have to say is very simple, easy to follow and delicious!
Chicken Katsu Curry (Serves 4)
- 4 chicken breasts
- plain flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- panko (or golden) breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil
- vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 inch piece (1-2 tsp of ginger purée) fresh root ginger, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp. hot curry powder (or medium curry powder with 1tsp of chilli powder)
- 2 tbsp. plain flour
- 500 ml (17 fl 0z) chicken stock
- 2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp. honey
- Bash chicken breasts to flatten them to an even thickness (e.g. use a rolling pin).
- Put flour, egg and breadcrumbs into separate shallow bowls. Dip each chicken breast into flour (tap off excess), then egg and finally breadcrumbs. Repeat until all chicken breasts are coated. Set aside while you make the sauce.
- For the sauce, heat oil in a saucepan and fry onion and carrot over medium heat until they are softened. Add ginger and garlic and cook for a further min, then stir in curry powder and flour. Cook for 1min, then gradually add stock to avoid lumps forming. Add soy sauce and honey. Blitz the contents of the sauce with a hand blender or in a standing blender. Return to the pan and bring to the boil and then simmer for 10-15min to reduce until thickened. Season if necessary.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and cook chicken for 5min on each side or until cooked through.
- Serve and munch away. Yummmmmm.
I have to say, using a hotter curry powder and adding carrots, which bring sweetness, and slightly more soy sauce takes this recipe to a whole new level. If you’re not a fan of spice then leave this out, but I would suggest adding carrots anyway!
How scrumptious does that look, though?
The issue that I have when I make this myself is I can never get the chicken to that perfect golden colour, and either end up over cooking it or leaving it slightly paler than it should be. This, mixed with my usual lack of Japanese rice in the cupboard, means that as much as I love making it myself, I personally cannot get the entire dish to be the same.
If anyone has any tips for frying the chicken then please let me know. I have also considered buying pre-breaded chicken from the shop and using that? At the end of the day when you drown basmati rice and whatever chicken you have with MY sauce it won’t matter because it will taste. like. heaven.
Homemade: 9/10 (my sauce with Kokoro’s chicken and rice would be 10/10).
I’ve given my opinions so now it’s left to you guys! Will you try making it yourself and see what you think? Comment down below and let me know via my social medias if you do! I think we can all agree that you can’t go wrong with a cheeky Katsu curry, it’s just a question of where to get it! I personally think you can get the best result if you make it yourself, and also have the satisfaction of getting seconds!
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