30-Minute Baked Japanese Chicken Katsu (GF, Oil-Free)

September 2017 Recipe Redux Challenge:

Sheet Pan Meals

We love throwing ingredients together on a sheet pan and roasting for a simple sheet pan dinner. They make busy weeknights a bit more manageable. (And clean-up isn’t bad either!) Show us your healthy take on a sheet pan meal.

I trudged into my apartment and immediately dumped my heavy backpack on the ground. Out spilt sheets of paper, laptop chargers and loose pens. I didn’t even want to think about school right now.

I heard a knock on the door. It was Zoe reminding me that Raena (my younger sister) was coming to dinner. I surveyed the empty kitchen counter and empty fridge. Great.
Rolling up my sleeves, I pushed away tempting thoughts of wanting to curl in bed and order take-out. I took out the ingredients and started chopping away.

Raena leaned in as I gave her a little lick of the sauce. Her serious expression and furrowed eyebrows made me chuckle inside. Oh how I missed those fond moments we had spent on Sundays in the kitchen making dumplings with our grandparents and baking cookies.
The timer of the oven went off. Zoe immediately grabbed the nearest kitchen towel and pulled out the oven tray.

“Wow that looks so good!” Raena squealed in surprise as the pan of golden-crusted chicken cutlets came out of the oven.

Hearing her excitement made the effort to stand up in the kitchen so worth it. I lived for these special moments.

What was so great was that this dinner barely took anytime to make. Just as quickly as it would have taken for me to grab takeout, in a blink of an eye, dinner was served: Baked Chicken Katsu with Tonkatsu Sauce; Pickled Radish; Korean Soy Braised Tofu; Stir-fried Cabbage & Ginger; Kimchi; Rice. A delicious Japanese-Korean Spread that was like a healing balm to my tired soul.As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes cooking can seem tiresome (even for a food blogger!) But in reality we can it doesn’t take really take that long to put a good meal on the table if you have some handy tricks up your sleeve. And this Cheat Chicken Katsu Sheet Pan Bake is definitely one of mine. 

It even got my cousin all excited when we knocked her door and delivered a plate of chicken katsu to her. You know it is good when two of the pickiest eaters you know gives their stamp of approval!

So for all those busy mums/college students that are running out of idea of what to make or anyone who wants a quick meal on the table.

30-Minute Japanese Chicken Katsu Sheet Pan (GF, Oil-Free)

 

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Tonkatsu Sauce adapted from JustOneCookbook

Author: Unconventional Cooks

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breast (almost 2lbs)
• 1.5-2 cups GF cornflakes
• 4 tbsp cornstarch (or 3 tbsp potato starch)
• 1 egg
• Salt and Pepper
• Serve with Tonkatsu Sauce (below) / your favorite BBQ sauce / Lemon wedge

Instructions

1. Prepare:
2. A parchment lined baking pan.
3. Add cornflakes into a blender and pulse till you get fine crumbs. Spread on a plate.
4. Mix 1 egg with 1 tbsp of water in a wide bowl.
5. Start: Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Butterfly your chicken breasts into 4 thin pieces of chicken (see instructions in the notes).
7. Using the back edge of a cleaver/large knife OR a large rolling pin, repeated pound the chicken to an even thickness (and to tenderize)
8. Season generously with salt and pepper. Coat each chicken breast with 1 tbsp of cornstarch.
9. Dip chicken breast into the egg mixture and then coat in cornflake crumbs.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes till cooked.
11. Slice the chicken breast and serve with the sauce and rice.

Notes

How to Butterfly Your Chicken:

1. Place the chicken breast on a cutting board.
2. Press one hand felt on top of the chicken and using a sharp knife cut into the chicken horizontally.
4.Open up the chicken breast "like a butterfly" and slice down the center to get 2 thin pieces of chicken breast.
5.Repeat with the other breast.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 chicken cats + ¼ sauce Calories: 253.2

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Tonkatsu Sauce

 

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Author: Unconventional Cooks

Ingredients

• Tonkatsu Sauce: (OR )
• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 2½ tsp GF Worcestershire Sauce
• 1½ tsp Oyster Sauce
• 1⅛ tsp honey

Instructions

1. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce.

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(Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux posts only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.)

(This post is featured on Twinkly Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Weekend Potluck)

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