There is something about a plate of beige food which is über comforting. When that specified beige is a katsu sauce, and it happens to be the dreamy main component of a Wagamama curry…What a sweet + spicy, moreish feat indeed!
Your stay-home prayers have been answered my friends. Wagamama’s executive chef took IGTV in a step-by-step Katsu Curry masterclass. Wagamama’s signature Katsu at home – yessss!
Jordan and I loosely cooked along, tweaking the recipe here and there to recreate a Chicken Katsu/Yasai Katsu hybrid. Making the actual sauce was dead easy – I could not believe it I had been missing it from my life for so long.
You can find the original recipe used in the official cook-a-long here, or follow mine below for a reimagined take on the Wagamama’s Katsu Curry (with no rice in sight!)
NOTE: I obviously do not own the original IGTV recipe, but have played around with the recipe myself. The original belongs to Wagamama.
Reimagined Sauce recipe |
– 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
– 2 onions, sliced (makes it funky and chunky)
– Handful of mushrooms
– 2 garlic cloves, or 1 – 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
– 1 tablespoon of ground ginger
– 1 tablespoon of turmeric
– 2 heaped teaspoons of mild curry powder
– 1 tablespoon plain flour
– 300-400ml vegetable/chicken stock
– 1 teaspoon of sugar
– 100 ml alt. milk (we used soya)
– Light soy sauce to taste
Reimagined Dish recipe |
– 2 butterflied skinless chicken breasts
– AND/OR 1 sweet potato, cut into thin rounds
– Chips to quantity or 120g rice (we are not massive rice fans in our house, so chips always)
– 50g plain flour
– 2 eggs, beaten
– 100g homemade breadcrumbs (waaay more time-consuming, but worth it)
– 75 ml vegetable oil
– Mixed side salad
Reimagined Method |
Sauce
First, fling the oil, onions, mushrooms, garlic and ginger into a low/medium heat pan. You want the veg soft and the ginger and garlic to be oozing. If it is not as liquidy as you think it should be, add water and/or a generous knob of butter. There is nothing a good knob cannot fix.
Throw in the curry powder, the turmeric and spin. You want to simultaneously release and seal the flavours before dumping in your flour to form a curry paste.
Thoroughly combine all ingredients (roughly 1/2 minutes) before slowly pouring in your stock. Your pan should sizzle while your paste transforms into a sauce. Stir and stock; stir and stock = sauce. Once your stock and ingredients have totally fused together – it is time to get your alt. milk involved.
Depending on your chosen alt. milk, your sauce will reach different levels of creaminess. Once the desired consistency has been obtained, spoon in your sugar, light soy sauce to taste and any seasonings you require!
HEY PRESTO – Katsu Sauce.
*NOTE: This recipe produced a sauce a HELL of a lot darker than the Wagamama’s classic.
Chicken/sweet potato
Glug oil into a pan (preferably a wok for safety, but we used a frying pan). The trick here is for there to be ~ just~ enough to half-cover your breasts. Oooo-errrh.
Butterfly your chicken (easy tutorial here). After, with one hand, transfer butterflied chicken into your flour (we put a blend of herbs & spices in ours) and completely cover. With the same hand, pop the meat into your beaten eggs and totally coat. With the other hand, flip the chicken into the breadcrumbs and immerse fully.
Immediately, place into the oil and watch her sizzle baby. Repeat the steps for the second breast. Use the same method for your sweet potato. If you are opting for the sweet potato, I advise you bake for 15 minutes BEFORE frying.
You will know your chicken / sweet potato is fully cooked when both sides are a deep sun kissed brown. Cut open a piece to double-check insides too.
Result |
The rest is easy. Transfer your meat/veg to your plate with your chips and side-salad of choice. Spoon on a generous helping of your Katsu sauce and SERVE.
Eat with a fork and knife; a pair of chopsticks; your fingers, whatever. ENJOY your Wagamama’s fix at home. You are welcome.
ELLA LOUISE SCOTT 