Cooking with Panko breading

[Anonymous]

I can't quite figure out how to use this stuff. I've tried both on fish and on chicken and I've tried cooking both in the oven and on a skillet. I've tried using egg to get the breading to stick and I've tried just using a marinade to coat with the panko. I simply can't get the breading to stay on the fish/chicken and to get that nice golden, crispy finish. Last night I tried it on chicken without using egg and it was a disaster. The breading just stuck to the skillet and burned. Last time I tried it on fish I coated with egg and tried in the oven. The breading stayed on but it didn't crisp up and I had to finish in the skillet so the fish was a bit mangled by the time I was done.

Any tips?
What do you use to get the Panko to stick?
Do you do it in the oven or stovetop?
What do you set the oven temp or stove heat to?
Do you use oil, and how much?
How long to do you cook for?

I've mastered cooking with regular breadcrumbs in a skillet, but I can't for the life of me make anything with Panko. Help!

[Anonymous]

I've seen this on several TV shows:
Coat meat in flour.
Dip meat in beaten egg or beaten egg and milk mixture.
Coat with Panko bread crumbs.
Cook in a pan in hot oil.

For baking: Same coating steps. The oven should be 400 or 425 degrees.

[Anonymous]

Also Google some recipes and see how they're different from what you've been doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've seen this on several TV shows:
Coat meat in flour.
Dip meat in beaten egg or beaten egg and milk mixture.
Coat with Panko bread crumbs.
Cook in a pan in hot oil.

This is exactly what I do. I use chicken tenders, and always shake the excess flour off before dipping in egg. I press the Panko on with my hands to really stick it on there. It comes out excellent every time. FWIW, I got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated 30 minute meals (the title is something like that).

[Anonymous]

(I'm the 12:32 poster above)

I'll add: I use either 1/4 or 1/2 cup veggie oil (I can't remember off-hand) in a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, and wait until the oil starts to smoke before adding the chicken. Since a package of the tenders is a lot and you don't want to crowd the pan, I do them in batches (no need to more add oil between batches). I keep batch #1 warm in the oven at 200F while cooking batch #2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I'm the 12:32 poster above)

I'll add: I use either 1/4 or 1/2 cup veggie oil (I can't remember off-hand) in a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, and wait until the oil starts to smoke before adding the chicken. Since a package of the tenders is a lot and you don't want to crowd the pan, I do them in batches (no need to more add oil between batches). I keep batch #1 warm in the oven at 200F while cooking batch #2.

I'm going to try it just like this. I think I didn't use enough oil when I tried. How long do you cook the tenders for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:(I'm the 12:32 poster above)

I'll add: I use either 1/4 or 1/2 cup veggie oil (I can't remember off-hand) in a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, and wait until the oil starts to smoke before adding the chicken. Since a package of the tenders is a lot and you don't want to crowd the pan, I do them in batches (no need to more add oil between batches). I keep batch #1 warm in the oven at 200F while cooking batch #2.

I'm going to try it just like this. I think I didn't use enough oil when I tried. How long do you cook the tenders for?

That could be it. I just looked up the recipe, and it is actually 3/4 cup of oil! Using medium high heat and for the size cutlets I buy, it is usually about 4 minutes/side. You can tell when to flip them because they get that nice golden brown color. Also, I pat the chicken dry with paper towels (and use some salt and pepper) before starting my assembly line. Not sure if that helps everything to "stick" better?

[Anonymous]

temperature is everything when you are frying with breading. make sure your pan is hot enough to get the coating to stick, but adjust the flame accordingly if your food starts to burn.

and yes, you also need to add a generous slick of olive oil / butter to make sure the breading doesn't stick to the pan.

[Anonymous]

It is the temp of the oil. I love to cook pounded until thin chicken breast in Panko. It must be lightly coated with flour then in egg with 2 Tablespoons of water then in the panko. Let it set up a couple of minutes while the olive oil is heating on medium high. A couple of minutes on each side and it is perfectly golden brown. If you do a second pan you usually need to wipe out the pan and put in fresh olive oil or the panko in the pan will burn. Same goes for fish.

[Anonymous]

PP again. Do not move the chicken around it will release from the skillet when it is ready to turn.

[Anonymous]

For something that sounds really stange but tastes good, try pan frying panko with some parm sprinkled on it, then put it ontop of spaghetti. I always had "mini" bowls like this, some pasta, sauce, and all the "crispies" ontop!