Cheat’s Katsu

Japanese cooking always gives off an air of superiority.

Sushi, donburi, tempura. They all sound so laborious, with hours of sourcing ingredients and marinating to produce the final meal.

Some Japanese recipes are certainly ones for when you have a few spare hours in the evening, or are cooking to impress.

But katsu is the lovely little exception.

The ultimate comfort food. Almost falling into the flavours of chipshop curry sauce, but rising out with slight sweetness and a tad more finesse than that. Perfect with rice, but also delicious enough to simply stand and dip bread into by the stovetop.

This curry is thicker, sweeter and less spicy than its Indian or Thai counterparts, so is perfect for an easy meal to impress guests who may not be able to handle the fire of a Thai Red curry!

This serves 2 people with an appetite!

To make, you will need:

• Basmati rice
• 2 tbsp of plain flour, mixed with water to make a thick paste
• Roughly 50g of panko breadcrumbs (can be bought online or in specialist Asian supermarkets)
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp of curry powder
• 1 tbsp of clear honey (could be substituted for agave for vegans)
• Most of a can of coconut milk (full-fat is always preferential)
• Your choice of ‘tonkatsu’ – chicken is the usual option, but I prefer this with aubergine or tofu. You could use any vegetable really, and even Quorn chicken pieces.

1. Prepare your rice; I swear by rice cookers, they make the rice fluffy without burning it, but you can boil the rice on the hob if you don’t own one.
2. While the rice is cooking, coat your choice of meat/vegetable (I will be using aubergine ‘steaks’ in this recipe) in the flour paste and roll in panko until as covered as possible – hold onto the rest of the flour paste, you’ll need it later. If you’ve used it all, make a little more.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan, and fry the aubergine slices on both sides until browned. Fry them in batches and drain on kitchen towel.
4. Once all of the slices are fried, place them all in the oven at 180c for 15 minutes to crisp up, while you make the curry.
5. Wipe the pan clean of any burnt bits, and add a little more oil.
6. Dice the onions and fry them until translucent, before adding the crushed garlic and curry powder to fry for an extra minute
7. Add the remaining flour paste and honey. Stir for about 30 seconds, or until combined.
8. Add half a tin of coconut milk, and then keep adding it to taste, along with any additional curry powder or honey (add more powder for more flavour and heat, honey for more sweetness, more coconut milk for less intense flavours)
9. Simmer for a few minutes, and keep tasting!

Serve up with the rice, the baked ‘tonkatsu’ and you could even add some japanese pickles or some cucumber on the side.

Quick, delicious and looks like you put in far more effort than you actually did.

Perfect family dinner or hangover cure.