Katsu chicken with tonkatsu sauce, siracha mayo, and quick pickled slaw all on a French bread roll.
This sandwich has it all. A little spicy, sweet, crunchy, and the perfect bite of vinegar to tie it all together. We love chicken katsu in my home and really love it smothered in the Japanese sauce, tonkatsu. I make my tonkatsu with just a few simple ingredients and it is SO good and simple. Now the veggies make this whole sandwich. A quick pickling takes very little time and stores for a few weeks in the refrigerator.
For the vegetables I like to use carrots, red onion, cilantro, and cabbage. To pickle we will boil water and white vinegar. Then top if off with whole black pepper, and fresh dill. If you don’t want to chop everything fresh you can always get a bag of cabbage slaw and just add in the onion and cilantro to save time. Along with the tonkatsu and pickled vegetables we will be making a spread that consists of mayonnaise, sriracha, and chopped green onions.
On that note, here is a link to my homemade mayonnaise. Worth the effort and time, if you have it. Homemade Mayonnaise
It’s such a great combination of flavors in this sandwich and of course the star of the show is our crunchy panko breaded chicken breast.
For this recipe I used tenderloins. They are the perfect size and easy to chop for our French rolls. You can use any kind of bread you like but I am a huge fan of La Brea take and bake French rolls. They are so convenient and delicious. Of course homemade is always the best but these work wonderfully too. Another option is a French baguette, ciabatta or sourdough.
How fantastic does this look?! It’s hard for me to pick a favorite sandwich because I love to make so many but this one is definitely up there on the list of greats.
Let’s get started.
Chicken Katsu Sandwich with Tonkatsu Sauce
Ingredients
Slaw
- 1/2 bag cabbage slaw or fresh vegetables Vegetables below
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into small bite size pieces
- 1/4 red onion, dices into small bite size pieces
- 1/4 head green cabbage, chopped into small bite size pieces
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped into small bite size pieces
- 1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp. whole peppercorns
- 1/2 fresh sprig of dill
- 1 French baguette, cut in half and into 4 or French rolls
Spicy Mayo
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbps. sriracha
- 2 green onions, chopped
Tonkatsu sauce
- 2 tbsp. ketchup
- 5 tsp worschshire sauce
- 3 tsp oyster or hoisin sauce
- 2 1/2 tsp sugar
Chicken
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 4 tenderloins
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 cups panko breading
- salt and pepper
- 1-2 cups vegetable/canola oil
Instructions
- Pickled Slaw
- 1st let's start by prepping the vegetables. Dice/slice 1 carrot (peeled), 1/4 onion, 1/4 cabbage and 1 jalapeno (deseeded) try to get them all even so they are the same size. Add them to a jar with a tight fitting lid.
- Add 1/2 tbsp. of whole black peppercorns,, and 1/2 a sprig of dill.To a sauce pan add 1 1/2 cup water and 3/4 cup white vinegar. On med-high heat let it come to slight boil then remove and pour over the vegetables.Cover and set aside.*NOTE the pickled vegetables can be stored in the refrigerator for -2-3 weeks.
- In 3 shallow dredging bowls, fill one with the flour, one with the beaten eggs, and one with the panko breadcrumbs Dip each breast in the flour and coat both sides, shake off excess. Now dip into the egg and coat both sides. Lastly into the panko breadcrumbs and press down to be sure they adhere to the breasts. Flip and repeat.
- Wrap with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 10 minutes or until ready to cook.Fill a cast iron or large skillet with the oil and set to medium heat.
- Carefully place as many pieces of chicken as you can fit into the oil and let them begin to cook. Do not flip until a good golden brown crust has formed on one side. Repeat flipping until cooked through and golden. Thermometer should read 160°. Rest on a wire rack or a paper towel lined plate. Cook the remaining pieces.After all the chicken is cooked, slice against the grain.
Tonkatsu sauce
- In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, Worcestershire , oyster sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
Spicy Mayo
- In a small bowl mix mayo, sriracha, and green onions.
Assembly
- Toast the French rolls and slice open.
- Start by spreading the mayo on the top and bottom of each roll. Add a even amount of chicken to the rolls.
- Drizzle on some tonkatsu sauce.
- Now add the pickled vegetables and the top bread roll.
- ENJOY!
