Kushikatsu Recipe ( 串カツ )

Photo: Sara Harris

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TRADITIONAL JAPANESE RECIPE: Kushikatsu is pieces of deep-fried pork, like Tonkatsu, on a skewer. It is a comfort food Japanese people. There are a lot of Kushikatsu restaurants/bars in Japan, and it is usually a kind of food you eat out of the house, however, it is easy to make at home for dinner or a fun dish to serve for a large crowd.

Although you can get Kushikatsu in any city in Japan, Kansai (western Japan), Osaka is the heart of Kushikatsu restaurants.

Kushikatsu can be made with chicken, pork, seafood, and seasonal vegetables. These are skewered on bamboo kushi; dipped in egg, flour, and panko; and deep-fried in vegetable oil. They may be served straight or with tonkatsu sauce.



History:

The origin of kushiage is said to be served at food bars in downtown Osaka, in the Shinsekai neighborhood. Kushikatsu restaurants specialize in the dish. An owner of a small Shinsekai food bar since 1929 is said to be the pioneer cook, and her menu was quite popular among the district of blue collar workers. She prepared meat on skewers and deep fried, which was a kind of fast food handy to eat, not costly, and filling.

As that menu spread to other areas of Osaka and beyond, it is standard that kushikatsu are prepared with a single food not like that in Tokyo where, for example, they alternately put pork and onion on a skewer. Wider varieties of foods were prepared as the menu developed, on the contrary to those in Nagoya or Tokyo, for instance thin slices of pickled ginger or sausage by itself.

Generally speaking, the food on a skewer is smaller in Osaka style, and customers tend to order larger numbers of kushi compared to Tokyo or Nagoya. That encouraged many kushiage restaurants to use a premixed "batter flour" of powdered egg and flour (compared to that in Tokyo or Nagoya where batter is prepared with fresh egg, water and flour topped with panko crusts). High-end kushiage restaurants in Osaka serve kushikatu in Tokyo-Nagoya style. Grated yam is added for softer texture. New types of kushikatsu restaurants serve fondue-style kushikatsu where customers fry kushi at the table in a deep pan with cooking oil. Kushinobō is a typical high-end Osaka-style kushiage restaurant with franchises across Japan, and it is appreciated for its unique serving style — until you tell them you are full and don't need any more, they continue to bring variations of kushiage to your table.

Diced cabbage leaves are a free condiment prepared in a large bowl on the table, which is believed to prevent a feeling dull in the stomach.



Eating Manners:

Eating style is unique at kushikatu restaurants and food bars as you dip kushikatsu into a pot of thinner sauce before eating. As a sauce pot is shared among customers, and putting your food after a bite is seen as bad manners and unsanitary. Instead, you use a slice of cabbage on your table and scoop up sauce from the pot and pour it on your share of kushikatsu. In some restaurants they put a brush or spoon at the shared pot that you season the kushi on your dish.

Some kushiyaki restaurants have a menu and instructions in English and other languages to warn travelers not to dip food into the shared sauce pot after you bite it.

 

 

 

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Skill Level:	Time: 30 Minutes
Price:	Serves: 4 People

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Ingredients:

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Directions:

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01 - Slice the Tenderloin to bite size pieces.

02 - Cut the Brown Onion to small wedges.

03 - Cut the stems off the Shiitake.

04 - Peel the Lotus root and slice it into 1.5cm / 0.5in pieces.

05 - Skewer all the ingredients.

06 - In a medium bowl, whisk together Flour, Eggs, Milk, and Oil.

07 - Dip meat and vegetables in the batter, then dip in the bread crumbs.

08 - Deep-fry at 180C / 350F until brown.

 

 

 

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Written by: Uncut Recipes

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