Flavour trends for 2015 tend to follow closely the previous years’ trending and one area that still has traction is sauce. One particular Japanese flavour is katsu which was originally picked out in 2013 by the McCormick Flavor Forecast as part of an overall investigation into “Global My Way”. This theme examined how consumers were investigating new and exciting flavours around the globe so continuing sensory developments that had persisted for over a decade.
Katsu for example is one such flavour which is described as a cross between BBQ and steak sauce with a chilli note. Incidentally, the term katsu now really applies to the coating of food with panko breadcrumbs with a hot sauce in a lot of recipes. The sauce though is only one half of the traditional accompaniment for tonkatsu which is a fried bread-coated pork cutlet or chop. It not only makes for a fine curry but also sits neatly as a general picante-style oriental sauce for steaks, curry, dips, as a pouring sauce for Asian salads and the like.
Chicken too and country-fried steaks receive the breadcrumb treatment which makes a katsu curry unique because of this textured coating slathered with a stunning sauce. The chicken version has been a feature of Hawaiian cuisine in recent years.
Tamales are masa dough which is filled with either sweet or savoury fillings and then wrapped in corn husks before steaming. They are ideally accompanied with katsu sauce which provides a hot spicy note. Pasta too enjoys the combination providing a cross-over cuisine opportunity and delicious variations can be constructed when combined with meats such as chicken or pork within the sauce.
The sauce itself is made of a variety of ingredients which have regional elements to them depending on their prefectures of origin. Generally, it is composed of sugar, apple sauce, vinegar, starch thickener, onion puree, tomato, caramel, various spices for heat, a naturally brewed soy sauce and if processed for the supermarket shelf a preservative such as benzoic acid.
A number of recipes exploit the flavour combination especially with breadcrumbed chicken. Panko breadcrumbs would be the authentic choice here although breadcrumbs and even crushed cornflakes are possible. The BBC offers a recipe which is ideal for a lunch treat as does the Independent reporting on a recipe to be found in Gizzi Erskine’s book ‘Gizzi’s Magic Kitchen’. Kikkoman also offer a ready made version of the sauce.
I love this curry absolutely. Like the web site but want the recipes too. I actually do a mix of my recipe and Gizzi Erskine’s (http://thegoddesskitchen.blogspot.ch/2010/08/chicken-katsu-curry.html):
– prefer chicken katsu rather than pork
– make my own curry sauce rather than buying – loads on the web. I like to have both carrots and potatoes in my sauce (because that was how they did at my favourite Japanese restaurant/canteen in Paris).:)
This is actually a really great curry ! I love the sauce with everything especially potatoes and cabbage. Good with non-pork stuff as well.