Chicken Katsu

 I know we are health-conscious in this day and age, but once in awhile I just crave fried food! So I decided to make Japanese-style fried chicken (or katsu), which is simple to make. When my mom would make katsu, she would use pork and it would taste so good.

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 strips of boneless chicken (I usually get the frozen tenderloins from Trader Joe's)
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 egg beaten
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs (You can find this in a Japanese or Korean market)
• 1/4 cup of oil (or however much you need)

Directions:

1. Place the flour, egg and panko crumbs into separate shallow dishes. Coat the chicken breasts in flour. Dip them into the egg, and then press into the panko crumbs until well coated on both sides.  
2. Lightly cover a frying pan with oil and turn heat to medium-high. Place chicken in the hot oil, and cook 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper for taste. Best served immediately after cooking.

Make sure you close all the doors surrounding your kitchen - all the frying will stink up the place! And of course, you have to have some vegetable so I cooked some kale.

Ddukguk (Rice Cake Soup) Recipe

Ddukguk is one of my favorite childhood dishes. It is served on special occasions (such as New Year's Day) and also everyday occasions. It's very simple to make and requires basic ingredients. I left out a couple ingredients, but it still tasted fine. Click here for an original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 14 oz. can of chicken broth
• 3/4 cup of sliced rice cakes
• handful of baby carrots
• 1 bunch of scallions
• pepper and nori to taste

1. Boil chicken broth and rice cakes in pot. Lower temperature to medium-low heat after it boils.

 2. Place carrots into broth. Cook for about ten minutes or until rice cakes are fully cooked (I like them past al dente).
3. Then season with scallions, pepper, and pieces of nori to taste.

I know I left out a few key ingredients such as the fish sauce and sesame oil. I like to tackle cooking from memory, and I didn't check the recipe when I was cooking. Oops! But it turned out fine and saved a lot of time. Wait for the soup to cool a bit before you eat.

Curry In A Hurry

Japanese curry is an amazingly simple and delicious dish to make. The main ingredients you need are the curry mix and whatever vegetables you want to throw in (sometimes I like to use a combination of fresh and frozen veggies - saves prep time). I usually just follow the recipe on the box of the curry mix as a rough guideline. It's really hard to mess up the recipe - if the curry is too savory, add more water.. if it's a little bland, add more mix!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of curry mix (I usually use Vermont Curry in Medium-Hot, 8.8 oz)
• 3/4 cup chicken (or whatever meat you want to use)
• 3-4 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup of baby carrots
• 1/2 cup of frozen mixed vegetables
• 3 cups of water

1. Cut meat and saute in saucepan until lightly brown.
2. Throw in onions, potatoes and carrots.
2. Add water until boiling and then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 minutes.

Serve over rice. Voila! Since this dish makes several servings, it's a great option for when you're having guests over or you just want to save some for leftovers.