Name: Crispy Chicken Katsu Curry
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 yellow onion, sliced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp grated ginger; 3 tbsp all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp curry powder; 3 cups chicken stock; 2 carrots, cut into rounds; 1 russet potato, cut into 1-inch chunks; ½ apple, grated; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp honey; 2 boneless chicken breasts, halved horizontally; Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste; ½ cup all-purpose flour; 2 eggs, beaten; 2 cups panko breadcrumbs; Vegetable oil, for frying; To finish steamed rice

Crispy Chicken Katsu Curry

A roux-based Japanese curry, sweetened with grated apple, ladled over rice beneath a panko-fried chicken cutlet.

Serves

Prep

20 min

Cook

35 min

Written

August 12, 2026

Ingredients

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 tbsp curry powder

3 cups chicken stock

2 carrots, cut into rounds

1 russet potato, cut into 1-inch chunks

½ apple, grated

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

2 boneless chicken breasts, halved horizontally

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil, for frying

To finish steamed rice

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Sprinkle in the flour and curry powder and stir constantly for 2 minutes, until it clings to the onions like wet sand and smells toasted.

Whisk in the stock a splash at a time so no lumps form, then add the carrots, potato, apple, soy sauce, and honey.

Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potato is fork-tender and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper, then set up three shallow dishes of flour, beaten egg, and panko.

Dredge each cutlet in flour, then egg, then press firmly into the panko so the crumbs hold.

Heat ½ inch of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high until a pinch of panko dropped in sizzles right away, then fry the cutlets 3 to 4 minutes a side, until deep golden and the crust sounds hollow when tapped.

Drain the cutlets on a wire rack, rest 3 minutes, then slice into strips.

Ladle the curry over bowls of rice and fan the sliced chicken on top.

Notes

The roux is what makes this a Japanese curry and not a Thai one — flour and butter cooked into the onions before any liquid goes in, the same base move as a béchamel, thickening the sauce into something you eat with a spoon rather than drink. The grated apple isn’t a gimmick either: it breaks down into the sauce as it simmers and rounds out curry powder’s bitter edge without tasting like fruit.

Keep the fried cutlet and the curry separate until the last second — spoon the sauce around the chicken rather than over it, and the panko stays audible for at least the first few bites. Leftover curry (minus the chicken) freezes well in individual portions; fry a fresh cutlet whenever you want to eat it again.