Cook’s notes
What is katsu? It is a term used to describe an array of dishes that consists of fried meat, chicken, seafood or vegetables that are dredged in flour, dipped in egg, coated with panko and fried until golden and crisp. Tonkatsu — deep fried breaded pork cutlet — is the most well known outside Japan.
What is piccata? It is an Italian dish of floured and fried chicken, veal or fish served with a sauce made with butter, lemon juice, capers and, occasionally, wine and garlic.
So, yes, this is a fusion dish. We even used Asian ingredients to make the dish even more adaptable. Lemon juice is traditional for making the piccata sauce but lemons aren’t native to Southeast Asia; calamansi is. We substituted calamansi juice not only because it was what we already had, but also for its more vibrant color.
When wine is added to piccata sauce, the default is dry white wine. Rice wine was used here. It’s sweet and the contrast it made with the acidic calamansi juice resulted in a sauce so good you’ll want to spoon it over your rice or mop it up with crusty bread.
The salmon katsu piccata was served with kaffir lime slices on the side. We could have served the salmon with calamansi halves on the side but we had already used up the calamansi for the juice. Meanwhile, we harvested kaffir limes. Those who wanted a more tangy dish only had to squeeze the lime slices directly over the fish.
Salmon katsu piccata
Ingredients
- 600 grams salmon fillets (about 1.3 pounds)
- salt
- pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 6 tablespoons panko
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup olive oil not extra virgin
- 2 tablespoons calamansi juice
- ¼ cup rice wine mirin was used here
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons capers drained
Instructions
- Press the salmon fillets between stacks of paper towels to remove excess moisture.
- Dredge each fillet in flour and shake off the excess.
- Dip the floured fish in egg making sure every inch of the surface is moistened.
- Toss the fish in panko and press the crumbs lightly into the fish flesh to make the crumbs stick better.
- Heat the olive oil and four tablespoons of butter in a frying pan.
- Fry the breaded salmon fillets, flipping them over for even cooking, until a crisp golden crust has formed.
- Set the salmon aside.
- With the heat on LOW, add the rice wine and calamansi juice to the remaining olive oil and butter in the pan.
- Stir in the garlic and capers.
- Simmer the sauce for a minute or two to reduce a little.
- Taste, add salt if needed, and stir in the remaining two tablespoons of butter.
- Carefully slide in the salmon katsu.
- Tilt the pan a bit to make the sauce collect on the lower end.
- Use a spoon to bathe the salmon katsu over and over with the sauce.
- Carefully scoop out the fish and transfer to a shallow serving bowl. Pour the sauce over the fillets. Alternatively, arrange a fillet on top of rice, drizzle in some sauce and serve.
Air fried bacon-wrapped kani