Humble katsu sando
This bombastic fried chicken sandwich from Angelo Sato involves stuffing all the key components of Japanese chicken nanban – thinly sliced cabbage, pickles and tartare sauce – inside fluffy white bread, and serving it with a soft-boiled quail’s egg. It’s a sandwich sure to impress.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 8 slices of white bread, shokupan-style
Nanban sauce
- 80g of rice wine vinegar
- 100g of light soy sauce
- 80g of cane sugar
Tartare sauce
- 120g of mayonnaise
- 1 hard-boiled egg, diced
- 20g of red onion, diced
- 40g of cornichons, diced
- 4g of wholegrain mustard
- 2g of chopped parsley, or wild garlic if in season
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Cabbage
Cured quail eggs
- 4 quail eggs
- iced water
Pickled mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp of yellow mustard seeds
- 60g of rice vinegar
- 30g of water
- 15g of cane sugar
Chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- cornflour for dusting
- 2 eggs, beaten, for coating
- Panko breadcrumbs, for coating
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Cured daikon
- 5cm of daikon radish, thinly sliced into rounds on a mandolin
- salt
- vinegar
Method
Simmer all the ingredients for the nanban sauce on a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon - be careful not to burn it
- 80g of rice wine vinegar
- 100g of light soy sauce
- 80g of cane sugar
Mix all the ingredients together for the tartar sauce and season to taste
- 120g of mayonnaise
- 1 hard-boiled egg, diced
- 20g of red onion, diced
- 40g of cornichons, diced
- 4g of wholegrain mustard
- 2g of chopped parsley, or wild garlic if in season
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Slice the cabbage on a mandolin as thin as possible, then leave it in ice water for 20 minutes. Spin dry in a salad spinner
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Cook the quail eggs for 2 minutes, then transfer to an ice bath to chill
- 4 quail eggs
- iced water
Once cooled, cure the eggs in nanban sauce for 1 hour
Sprinkle the radish with salt and leave for 15 minutes to draw out some moisture. Rinse the daikon then squeeze out any extra liquid form the daikon and transfer to a small container. Top with enough vinegar to pickle and leave for at least 30 minutes or overnight
- 5cm of daikon radish, thinly sliced into rounds on a mandolin
- salt
- vinegar
Blanch the mustard seeds in fresh boiling water 6 times, then transfer to a small pan with the pickling liquid. Bring to a simmer in the pickling liquid then set aside
- 2 tbsp of yellow mustard seeds
- 60g of rice vinegar
- 30g of water
- 15g of cane sugar
Trim and remove the blood veins from the chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Pané the chicken thigh, first in cornflour, then in the beaten egg and finally the panko
- cornflour for dusting
- 2 eggs, beaten, for coating
- Panko breadcrumbs, for coating
When ready to serve, heat a few centimetres of vegetable oil in in high-sided saucepan to 170°C
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Fry the chicken cutlets for 3 minutes or until crisp and cooked through. Season with a pinch of salt
Use a small ring cutter to cut a hole in the centre of the cutlet
Spread tartar sauce on one half of the bread and cured daikon on the other half. Top the cucumber with cabbage and nanban sauce
Place the chicken cutlet on the tartare sauce, and dress with more nanban sauce, and then place a cured quail egg in the hole
Place the two sides together and press down lightly. Use a very sharp bread knife to cut all four sides of the sandwich off, flush with the chicken. Wipe the knife clean and then cut the sandwich in half
To serve, put the two halves together, sliced side facing up. Top with pickled mustard seeds
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