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Home » Recipes » Asian + Hawaiian Recipes

Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu with Furikake

Published: Oct 10, 2022 · Modified: Jan 22, 2023 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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Chicken katsu is one of the most popular Hawaii local eats. Tender chicken cutlets are coated with crispy panko and crunchy furikake and fried to perfectly crisp. But the star of the show is the sweet and savory katsu sauce to drizzle all over the chicken and rice!

Chicken katsu is a fried chicken cutlet thats coated with panko breadcrumbs and fried to golden brown. The fried chicken is served on top of white rice with katsu sauce drizzled on top and cucumber kimchi on the side.
Jump to:
  • Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • Chicken Katsu Ingredients
  • Katsu Sauce Ingredients
  • How to Make Chicken Katsu
  • Baked Chicken Katsu
  • Serving Suggestions
  • More Chicken Recipes
  • Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu with Furikake

Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu

Growing up in Hawaii, I ate my fair share of chicken katsu, cucumber kimchi with two scoops of white rice. There is nothing better than a perfectly fried chicken katsu with the sweet and savory sauce all perched on top of steamy hot white rice. For another wonderful Chicken meal, try my One Pot Chicken Provencal.

Chicken Katsu is notably a Japanese dish and because Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures, there is a lot of Japanese influence in Hawaii cooking, chicken katsu being one of the more popular dishes.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • There are layers of flavor in every single bite of the dredging station for the fried chicken.
  • The whisked eggs has a few dashes of soy sauce and hot sauce.
  • The panko coating has crunchy furikake, which has sesame seeds and dried seaweed.
  • This is a great recipe to serve on the weekday!
  • Katsu is a family favorite!

Chicken Katsu Ingredients

  • Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts: Take the time to pound the chicken so it's not thick and becomes an even thickness. This will tenderize the chicken as well.
  • Seasoned Flour: For added flavor, add garlic powder, salt and pepper to the flour. This is the first step in dredging the chicken.
  • Eggs: The next part in dredging is whisking a few eggs in another bowl.
  • Hot Sauce: Added to the whisked eggs for a bit of a kick. I like using something pungent such as Tabasco or Sriracha.
  • Soy Sauce: A few dashes of soy sauce or tamari is added to the egg mixture for another layer of flavor.
  • Panko Breadcrumbs: These are crisp Japanese breadcrumbs and my personal favorite when frying anything, such as eggplant parmesan, which gives a nice crispy and crunchy coating.
  • Furikake: A rice seasoning that often has sesame seeds and nori mixed in, though there are all sorts of different flavor variations. I love using furikake to season white rice or sprinkle some on top of poke nachos or seared ahi.
  • Vegetable Oil: A neutral cooking oil that can handle higher heat such as canola oil, grapeseed oil or avocado oil for frying the chicken katsu.

Katsu Sauce Ingredients

  • Ketchup: The base of katsu, stick to the classics brands as Heinz.
  • Soy Sauce or Tamari: Adds a bit of saltiness and umami.
  • Worcestershire Sauce: This adds more savoriness to the katsu sauce.
  • Brown Sugar: Katsu sauce is typically sweet and savory and a little brown sugar gives the perfect balance.
  • Garlic Powder: Optional but adds another great savory layer to the katsu sauce.
Hawaii style chicken katsu is a fried chicken cutlet that's been coated with panko bread crumbs and furikake. Once fried, the chicken is served on top of cooked white rice and katsu sauce drizzled on top and cucumber kimchi on the side.

How to Make Chicken Katsu

  1. Make the chicken katsu. Cut the chicken breast in half horizontally and place between sheets of plastic wrap and pound each cutlet to an even thickness. 
  2. Create a dredging station by laying out 3 wide bowls.
    1. First bowl, whisk flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. 
    2. Second bowl, whisk the eggs, San J Tamari and hot sauce.
    3. Third bowl, whisk the panko breadcrumbs and furikake. 
  3. Dredge each chicken cutlet into the flour mixture, then egg mixture then panko mixture, making sure all sides are coated evenly.
  4. Heat a wide skillet over medium-high heat and pour in oil to come up about ½ an inch. Once oil reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit 
  5. Place 2 chicken cutlets into the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crisp on both slides, about 4-5 minutes per side. You may have to do this in batches. 
  6. Once chicken cutlets are done, cut chicken on a bias and garnish with more furikake and chives. Serve katsu with cooked white rice, kimchi and katsu sauce. 
  7. For the katsu sauce, whisk ketchup, soy sauce, worsteshire, brown sugar and garlic together and drizzle over katsu or serve alongside. 

Baked Chicken Katsu

Instead of frying the chicken, you can bake it instead.

Use the same dredging and place th4e chicken cutlets on a wire rack that is placed on a baking sheet.

Spray chicken with olive oil cooking spray and bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until crisp and cooked through.

Serving Suggestions

  • Hawaiian style chicken katsu is typically served with white rice (this is the perfect time to use a rice cooker) and macaroni salad.
  • Serve katsu with rice in a bowl with cucumber kimchi on the side.
  • Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

More Chicken Recipes

  • Grilled chicken shawarma kebabs are served on top of hummus and saffron rice.
    Chicken Shawarma Skewers
  • One pot chicken with dates, saffron and red wine.
    Braised Chicken with Dates and Saffron
  • Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon Herb Butter
  • Chicken Piccata with Lemon and Capers
    Classic Chicken Piccata with Lemon and Capers

Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu with Furikake

Samantha Ferraro

LittleFerraroKitchen.com

Hawaiian chicken katsu is one of the most popular Hawaii local eats. Chicken cutlets are coated with panko and furikake and fried to perfectly crisp and served with a sweet and savory katsu sauce.
5 from 7 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Dinner, Main, Main Course
Cuisine Hawaiian, Japanese
Servings 4 servings
Calories 482 kcal

Equipment

  • Rice Cooker
  • skillet

Ingredients
 
 

Chicken Katsu

  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt’
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • Few dashes of hot sauce
  • 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup Furikake + more for garnish
  • Canola or vegetable oil for frying
  • Chives or green onions chopped for garnish

Katsu Sauce

  • ¼ cup Ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoon sriracha or other hot sauce
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

For Serving

  • 2 cups Cooked white rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • For the chicken katsu, cut the chicken breast in half horizontally and place between sheets of plastic wrap and pound each cutlet to an even thickness.
  • Create a dredging station by laying out 3 wide bowls.
  • First bowl, whisk flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
  • Second bowl, whisk the eggs, soy sauce and hot sauce.
  • Third bowl, whisk the panko breadcrumbs and furikake.
  • Dredge each chicken cutlet into the flour mixture, then egg mixture then panko mixture, making sure all sides are coated evenly.
  • Heat a wide skillet over medium-high heat and pour in oil to come up about ½ an inch. Once oil reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Place 2 chicken cutlets into the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crisp on both slides, about 4-5 minutes per side. You may have to do this in batches.
  • Once chicken cutlets are done, cut chicken on a bias and garnish with more furikake and chives. Serve katsu with cooked white rice, kimchi and katsu sauce.
  • For the katsu sauce, whisk all the ingredients together and drizzle over katsu or serve alongside.

Video

Notes

To bake chicken katsu, use the same dredging and bake at place on a wire rack on a baking sheet, then bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until cooked through and crisp. 
Both the chicken and katsu sauce can be made ahead of time, but keep seperate until ready to serve. The sauce cna make the breading soggy. 
Try my Hawaiian Style Shoyu Chicken for another taste of Hawaii.

Nutrition

Calories: 482kcalCarbohydrates: 76gProtein: 27gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 159mgSodium: 1917mgPotassium: 481mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 313IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 102mgIron: 6mg
Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a comment and 5 star rating!

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  • Classic loco moco with hamburger patty, white rice and decadent mushroom gravy.
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    Seared Furikake Ahi

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Comments

  1. MrnMrsindkitchen says

    August 03, 2023 at 12:25 pm

    5 stars
    We had something like this at a Hawaiian BBQ spot in Socal. We did this recipe over the weekend and it was much better than the restaurants recipe. We found Furikake at Whole Foods, it goes great sprinkled over almost anything Asian or Hawaiian.

    Reply
  2. Tom says

    June 18, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    5 stars
    We wanted to tap ourselves back to our Hawaiian Vacation. We did it without leaving our home. Samantha's Hawaiian Style Chicken Katsu with Furikake was great. I think the secret was two fold. The Katsu sauce and the Furikake. I might try the Katsu sauce on a fish version of this recipe.

    Reply
5 from 7 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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