Kushikatsu is a specialty dish in Osaka, and it is a fun dish where the ingredients are skewered and deep-fried. Bet Kushikatsu goes excellent with beer!
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Ingredients
Kushikatsu Ingredients
120 g Beef Steaks beef round, sirloin or tenderloin 4 Prawns 2 Fresh Scallops sashimi-grade 2 Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms substitute: button mushrooms 4 Amanaga Peppers substitute: shishito peppers or bell peppers 2 Green Asparagus Spears 2 Cherry Tomatoes 1/2 Eggplant 2 pieces Camembert Cheese or your favorite cheese 1/2 Onion
Sauce
3 tbsp Japanese Worcester Sauce 2 tsp Okonomiyaki Sauce 1 tsp Tomato Ketchup 3 tbsp Water
Toppings
Sudachi Citrus substitute: any type of sour citrus, ex. lemon or lime Salt
Batter
1 Egg medium size 100 ml Cold Water 80 g Cake Flour or All Purpose Flour or combine tempura batter mix and water without using the egg
Other Ingredients
150 g Panko finely ground, Japanese breadcrumbs Frying Oil enough so that the ingredients are half submerged
Side Vegetables
Cabbage Leaves bite-size Cucumbers
Kitchen Items
26 Bamboo Sticks
Alternative Ingredients
String Bean Pods Okra Kirimochi Quail Eggs boiled Lotus Root Kabocha Squash
* 1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 ml, 1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 ml
* The ingredients contain Amazon affiliate links.
Instructions
- First, let's make the sauce. Combine the Japanese Worcester sauce, okonomiyaki sauce, tomato ketchup, and water. Stir to mix thoroughly.
- You can also enjoy the kushikatsu with salt and sudachi citrus fruit.
- Next, let's make the batter. Combine the egg and cold water in a bowl. Thoroughly beat the mixture with a balloon whisk until the egg white loses its consistency.
- Sieve the flour into the bowl. You can use all purpose flour or cake flour. Alternatively, combine tempura batter mix and water without using the egg.
- Mix the batter until all the pockets of dry flour have disappeared.
- Let's prepare the ingredients. Make numerous shallow cuts in the beef steak to tenderize it. Flip it over, and make cuts on the other side.
- Lightly season it with salt and black pepper.
- Dice the steak into 2cm (0.8") pieces. Skewer 2 pieces of beef with a bamboo stick. Leave a slight gap between the meat to help it cook well.
- This cut is beef round but sirloin or tenderloin can also be used.
- These long peppers are called Amanaga peppers. The peppers may burst in hot oil so make sure to pierce them numerous times along the flesh with a bamboo skewer. You should also pierce the cherry tomatoes to keep them from bursting.
- Skewer each pepper with a bamboo stick from the stem end to the tip. Amanaga peppers don't have any pungent taste and have a distinct refreshing flavor.
- Snap off the root end of the asparagus spear. Peel off the firm skin from the bottom part so that you can boil, or use it in stir-fried dishes. Skewer the asparagus spear with a stick.
- Slice the onion into 1cm (0.4") slices. From the outer layers, skewer the onion with a wooden pick.
- To keep the layers from separating, skewer it with another pick from the other side. Be sure to remove the picks before you enjoy the kushikatsu to avoid hurting yourself.
- We have 7 additional ingredients; prawns, scallops, fresh shiitake mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, and camembert cheese. Please check out our shrimp egg tendon video for how to prepare the prawns.
- Let's deep-fry the kushikatsu. As shown, this is the desired consistency of the batter. If it is too thick or heavy, add a small amount of water to adjust it.
- First, start with the vegetables. Coat each ingredient with the batter. Ladling the batter over the ingredients will help to coat them evenly. Drop off the excess batter.
- Then, cover the ingredient with panko, Japanese breadcrumbs. Lightly press the panko to firmly attach it to the ingredients.
- Heat the vegetable oil to 170°C (338°F) in a pot. The amount of oil should be enough so that the ingredients are half-submerged.
- Place the amanaga pepper, asparagus spear, and onion into the oil. Don't touch them until the surface firms up.
- When the batter is slightly browned, flip them over.
- Deep-fry until deliciously golden brown. Thoroughly remove the excess oil and place the kushikatsu onto a cooling rack.
- Let's cook the other ingredients; the fresh shiitake, cherry tomato, eggplant, and camembert cheese. Remove the moisture on the surface of each ingredient thoroughly before coating with the batter to keep the oil from popping.
- Be sure to thoroughly coat the cheese with the batter and firmly attach the panko to it otherwise the batter may fall off and the melting cheese can leak into the hot oil.
- You should cook the vegetables first before the oil absorbs the odors of the meat and seafood.
- Now, these kushikatsu are ready.
- Let's deep fry the beef, prawns, and sashimi-grade scallop.
- The ingredients of kushikatsu are small so you should choose finely ground panko. Finely ground panko goes into the gaps of ingredients and firmly attaches together.
- This will help deep-fry the kushikatsu evenly and create a light, crispy texture. You can also grind regular panko with a food processor or crumble it into smaller pieces in a plastic bag.
- Meat and seafood easily become tough so deep-fry them at a relatively high temperature, about 180°C (356°F) for a shorter time.
- The beef and scallop are tender and delicious at medium rare but you can cook them as you like.
- Kushikatsu is a specialty dish in Osaka, and many food bars and restaurants specialize in this dish. Be sure not to dip your kushikatsu in the sauce twice because you are sharing the sauce with other customers. Double-dipping is considered bad manners and unsanitary.
Recipe Notes
If you want to dip the kushikatsu more than once, scoop the sauce up with a slice of cabbage leaf, which is usually served as a free condiment.
If you are cooking it at home, you can dip it as many times as you want if your family or friends don't mind it.
