Panko at home. Japanese cuisine from Kiyoshi Hayamizu: tempura and Japanese breading

Rusks panko is a breading mixture that is widely used in Japanese cuisine, mainly for deep-fried cooking. Panko crackers are a mixture that consists of airy crumbs. Also, Japanese crackers can be sold with the addition of various spices and spices.

For a long time, Japan remained a mystery country for the whole world. Of the foreigners, there were only Portuguese merchants and monks who supplied Chinese silk to Japan. It is the Portuguese who contribute to the spread of Japanese culinary traditions. Panko crackers got their name from the Portuguese word "pan", which means "bread", and the Japanese "ko", that is, "powder", "flour".

Japanese panko breadcrumbs have a richer texture than regular European breadcrumbs.

Traditionally, Japanese breadcrumbs are made from crustless bread. The dough is baked by passing an electric current through the baking molds. Thanks to this technology, bread is obtained that is devoid of crust, which leads to the fact that it stales faster. Japanese bread is made from flour with a high protein content, which makes the dough airy. Gluten combined with air creates textured breadcrumbs. The bread is removed from the oven before it browns to avoid crusting. Then the bread is left for 18 hours and only after that it is crushed. Bread is ground in special mills, which are designed to minimize damage to the crumb. The use of such mills allows you to get a large crumb.

Panko is a traditional Japanese breadcrumbs. Of course, crackers are produced under this name not only in Japan, but throughout Asia. A feature of this product is its structure: crackers are more like chips than a regular breadcrumbs. You can buy panko crackers in a large supermarket or make them yourself. The calorie content of panko breadcrumbs is 380 kilocalories per 100 g. The ratio of BJU in Japanese breadcrumbs is 16%, 17% and 67%, respectively, that is the product contains too many carbohydrates, which leads to its high calorie content.

Use in cooking

In cooking, Japanese panko crackers are widely used to prepare a variety of dishes. So, they are used in Japanese cuisine for deep-frying, for cooking vegetables, breaded meat.

Panko crackers can differ in appearance depending on what is added to them. The bright yellow breading mixture indicates that the crackers were cooked with the addition of seasoning, most likely, they contain turmeric. The composition of white panko crackers includes wheat and soy flour. Also, black pepper, curry, turmeric can be added to panko crackers, which makes food cooked with them even tastier.

Some Asian countries also produce sweet breading for desserts. To do this, panko crackers are mixed with coconut and sugar, sometimes with the addition of rum. In the Mediterranean, breadcrumbs are mixed with grated parmesan, oregano and other herbs. The mixture of breadcrumbs and sesame seeds looks very nice.

How to cook at home?

You can cook Japanese panko crackers at home. Of course, in order to completely repeat the taste of panko, you need to use special bread, but since it is difficult to buy, crackers can be made from a French baguette.

Yesterday's baguette is cut into cubes, after removing the crust. When cutting off the crust, it is important not to cut the crumb along with it. The resulting pieces must be crushed in a blender, preferably using the pulsation mode. As a result of such manipulations, a fairly large crumb should be obtained, which then will need to be dried. At home, the crumbs are dried in the oven. It is evenly distributed on a baking sheet and make sure that it does not burn. Dry so that the color of the product does not change. The crackers are mixed so that they dry evenly. After the crackers have dried, they are left on the baking sheet for an hour so that they dry even better. Store homemade panko crackers in a tightly closed container.

Also, Japanese crackers can be prepared at home according to another recipe, and this time not from a French baguette, but from an ice cream loaf. The loaf is cut into slices and wrapped in cling film (you can take a sliced ​​loaf already wrapped in a store). It will be better if you separately wrap each slice in cling film. The wrapped bread is placed in the freezer. After 3 hours, the loaf is taken out of the freezer and the crust is cut off. Using a blender or food processor in pulse mode, crush the bread cubes into crumbs. So that the bread cubes do not turn into very small crumbs, you need to add them in small portions and constantly shake the inside of the blender. Next, lay the bread crumbs on a baking sheet in the oven. The oven is heated to the minimum temperature and the crackers are dried there. Crackers should dry out, but do not change their color. During drying, they should be constantly stirred. Store breading in a glass container.

At home, crackers are not quite the same as the famous panko, but they can be successfully used for frying foods, as well as for baking.

When cooking, panko crackers absorb much less oil. They can be used to fry fish or meat to grab a delicious golden brown. This crust not only adds to the appetizing dish, but also makes the meat or fish more juicy. It is panko crackers that give the most crispy crust, while the usual breading mixture will make the crust tender, but not crispy. Japanese crackers can also be lightly fried and sprinkled over salad.

In order to cook fish or meat in a batter, you need to dip the product in batter, then roll in panko breading mixture and fry in a deep frying pan. Serve such fish or meat with rice and soy sauce. Panko breadcrumbs are great for making Tonkatsu (pork patty), as well as Skakanofurai (fish chops) and Ebifurai (shrimp patties). Japanese breadcrumbs are often used to make Tempura. Breading gives the products a particularly appetizing look.

Japanese panko crackers are an excellent natural product that allows you not only to make the dish tasty, but also to give it an attractive appearance.

In addition, the special air structure of the crumbs allows excess fat to drain, which makes the dish less greasy. Using panko breadcrumbs is a great way to add a new flavor to familiar dishes.

Japanese cuisine is popular not only because of its exoticism - it is fundamentally very healthy. But, in addition to the "usual" seafood dishes, Japanese cuisine has many lesser-known, but no less tasty things. Panko croutons- one of the typical representatives of traditional Japanese cuisine.

The name of these delicious crackers appeared after the contacts of the inhabitants of Japan with the Portuguese navigators. "Panko" is the Portuguese word for "bread" (from a common Latin root, compare with "breading") to which the Japanese ending "ko" ("crumbs") was added. Panko breadcrumbs have several notable differences from our breadcrumbs:

• panko is more reminiscent of air flakes - in texture and shape, unlike denser crackers;
• our favorite crusts in Japanese crackers are cut off without fail and are not used;
• breadcrumbs are significantly inferior to panko in size.

There are two types of crackers in this photo. Now you can clearly see all these differences. (Try to guess where panko is.)

When deep-fried, panko breadcrumbs absorb less oil than regular breadcrumbs (precisely due to their lightness). So, it turns out that their use, in addition to everything else, makes the dish more useful and healthy.

All you need to make breadcrumbs is one ingredient: yesterday's loaf of white yeast bread

Wrap a few slices of a loaf (sliced, which is very convenient) with cling film.

We send them to the freezer for at least three hours.

We take out the bread, unfold and cut off the crusts.

We cut the bread into large cubes.

With the help of a blender, on the pulse mode (pressing and releasing), grind the bread into crumbs.

Attention: we grind in small portions! Do not put all the bread in the blender at once!

We do this: literally for a second we press the button. We release it, and shake the bowl so that the bread is evenly distributed inside. Then we press again, release, shake, etc.

Thus, the bread will not grind into very small crumbs, but just the desired flakes will be obtained.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the bread crumbs in an even layer.

We send it to the oven to dry at a minimum temperature. I can also keep the oven door ajar.

Crackers should not change color, but simply dry. Therefore, every 2-3 minutes we take out the baking sheet and mix them gently. If there are still large pieces of bread left, just at this moment you can chop them with your fingers.

It's hard to say exactly how long it takes to dry. It all depends on your oven. Once the crackers are completely dry, take them out and cool.

Panko should be stored in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator. Then the shelf life increases, and crackers will stay there for several weeks without any problems.

Panko breadcrumbs can be used both for breading when frying, and for sprinkling when baking.

Text: Elena Elliott (photos can be easily found on various Arabic sites)

The invention, made by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War, received a second life in modern America. Panko breadcrumbs are now in the pantry of every sixth American family. Gradually panko pave the way to our kitchen.

During the war years, the Japanese adapted to bake bread on electricity obtained from tank batteries. Home-made electric furnaces in combat conditions had an important advantage: they did not smoke, which means they did not attract the attention of the enemy.

The bread that came out of such ovens was also unusual: it did not have a crispy crust, but the whole crumb was baked evenly. Electric ovens, built according to this principle already in peacetime, now bake bread for bread crumbs - panko. In Japan, not a single restaurant, not a single family can do without panko. As a rule, such breading has a white color and does not have any pronounced taste.

Panko grains are larger than those of American or European breadcrumbs, and due to their needle-like structure, Japanese breadcrumbs have the ability to increase volume. Let's say a small panko-dipped shrimp looks very large when fried. Because of this property, panko is especially loved by Japanese chefs. In addition, Japanese breading does not absorb vegetable oil as intensively when frying as usual, but it has a more crispy taste.

The latter feature attracts the increased attention of American producers, who indulge their compatriots' addiction to chicken fingers (chicken fingers) and other fast food that requires deep frying in oil; and, at the same time, the fashion for healthier food: panko does not need to be kept in boiling oil for a long time, they are already crunchy.

The popularity of Japanese babes came naturally from TV shows. The champion in this case is the program Rachel Rey on the Food Network, writes The Wall Street Journal. The publication quotes the words of the representative of the food giant Kraft Foods: panko leads the group of three products, the popularity of which in the US market is growing at a particularly rapid pace. Two other foods are tilapia fish and brown rice.

It is clear that the charms (as well as the harm, which you probably read about) of tilapia, as well as brown rice, are not so much the result of the forces of nature that produces them, but marketing technologies. However, in the case of panko, the story is all the more interesting because we are talking about technologies invented by Japanese soldiers who fought with the Americans.

But marketing technology is a terrible force. The product of the Japanese military, as the Soviet newspapers would call it, is perceived in America as local. Moreover, the Americans have developed the idea and produce panko with different flavors that give bread crumbs different tastes, from Italian to Mexican smoked chipotle peppers.

So far, I am quite satisfied with the usual Japanese breadcrumb, for which I find all new uses. In order not to go far for examples - here is a recipe where I used panko to make crispy zucchini (

Rusks panko is a breading mixture that is widely used in Japanese cuisine, mainly for deep-fried cooking. Rusks panko are a mixture that consists of air crumbs. Also Japanese crackers can be sold with the addition of various spices and spices.

The Portuguese are doing their bit to spread Japanese culinary traditions. Panko crackers got their name from the Portuguese word "pan", which means "bread", and the Japanese "ko", that is, "powder", "flour".

Japanese panko breadcrumbs have a richer texture than regular European breadcrumbs.

Traditionally, Japanese breadcrumbs are made from crustless bread. The dough is baked by passing an electric current through the baking molds. Thanks to this technology, bread is obtained that is devoid of crust, which leads to the fact that it stales faster. Japanese bread is made from flour with a high protein content, which makes the dough airy. Gluten combined with air creates textured breadcrumbs. The bread is removed from the oven before it browns to avoid crusting. Then the bread is left for 18 hours and only after that it is crushed. Bread is ground in special mills, which are designed to minimize damage to the crumb. The use of such mills allows you to get a large crumb.

I promised to tell you how to cook panko crackers at home. Of course, you can buy them ready-made. But why?

Indeed, on the Internet there are many ways to prepare these wonderful crackers, among which I found the most convenient, in my opinion. And now I don’t even have the thought of resorting to finished, factory products.

As I already mentioned, panko crackers are typical of Japanese cuisine. Their name comes from two words: borrowed directly from the Portuguese "pan" (bread) and the Japanese "ko" (crumbs, powder).

The difference from the usual, familiar to us breadcrumbs is this:

In texture and shape, ordinary crackers are dense and rounded, while panko is more airy and resembles flakes.

In the manufacture of panko, the crust of bread is not used, it is necessarily cut off.

Panko is much larger than regular breadcrumbs.

In this photo, I deliberately poured two types of crackers on one plate. Now you can clearly see all these differences.


I also came across the opinion that when deep-fried, panko crackers absorb less oil than ordinary breadcrumbs (just due to their airiness). So, it turns out that their use, in addition to everything else, makes the dish more useful and healthy.

All you need to make breadcrumbs is one ingredient:
yesterday's loaf of white yeast bread

Complexity: low (requires only care and accuracy!)

Cooking time: 3 hours to freeze plus 30 minutes to cook directly.

We wrap a few slices of a loaf (I have a sliced ​​one, which is very convenient) with cling film.

We send them to the freezer for at least three hours.

We take out the bread, unfold and cut off the crusts.

We cut the bread into large cubes.

With the help of a blender, on the pulse mode (pressing and releasing), grind the bread into crumbs. Attention: we grind in small portions! Do not put all the bread in the blender at once!

I do this: literally for a second I press the button. I release it, and shake the bowl so that the bread is evenly distributed inside. Then I press again, release, shake, etc.

Thus, the bread will not grind into very small crumbs, but just the desired flakes will be obtained.

Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the bread crumbs in an even layer.

We send it to the oven to dry at a minimum temperature. I also keep the oven door ajar.

Crackers should not change color, but simply dry. Therefore, every 2-3 minutes we take out the baking sheet and mix them gently. If there are still large pieces of bread left, just at this moment you can chop them with your fingers.

It's hard to say exactly how long it takes to dry. It all depends on your oven. Once the crackers are completely dry, take them out and cool.