Panko (Japanese Breadcrumbs)

[Ellyn]

My godmother's recipe for Japanese croquettes really hinges on these. Otherwise, they would just be meat and mashed potatoes. I was partly disappointed that the interesting "skin" around such things as vegetable croquettes was merely mashed potatoes, but a bigger part of me appreciated how something so commonplace could become so versatile.

Basically, mash some potatoes, let it cool, get some (already cooked!) meat stuffing, make a croquette by molding the mashed potatoes in whatever shape you want it to, and then stick the meat in it to be the filling. Make sure that the meat is completely covered by the mashed potato.

Roll it up in panko, and fry in a pan--or deepy-fry in a deep-fryer, if you want to be thorough.

Panko can also be used as binding. The only difference in manufactured panko versus breadcrumbs, is that panko does not include bread crusts in its packs and therefore are less oily.

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

I don't know if I just started paying close attention or if it has always been this way but it seems to me like a lot of recipes I have been reading lately call for panko instead of "bread crumbs." I learned in the post above that panko is less oily than traditional bread crumbs and I wonder if panko is more in style now because it is healthier.

 

[Ellyn]

That could be the case. I also noticed that panko tend to be flakes of breadcrumbs, whereas pre-packaged bread crumbs for some reason seem to be milled into a flour...which I found isn't actually the best thing for burger mix-ins or breading.

 

[Dianemwj]

I use panko for all my breading needs. I also use it in place of breadcrumbs for binding things like meatloaf. Purchased breadcrumbs are too sandy for my taste. Homemade ones are better, but why go through the trouble when panko works so well? I think things breaded in panko come out crispier than with breadcrumbs and the crispness lasts longer.

 

[Berties]

Panko bread crumbs does keep an nice crunch ,but it has its place ,to me it is a bit artificial not diss similar to eating something rolled in crushed cornflakes,
Bread crumbs are a easy comodity to make and uses up stale bread ,but have there uses

 

[cupcakechef]

I spent some time living in Japan and could only get panko there -breadcrumbs as I knew them previously weren't available easily unless I went to an international grocery and paid a small fortune. But the first time I used panko I was hooked. So much better, crispier and lighter I find!

I'll never go back to normal breadcrumbs, I don't think!

 

[Pat]

Recently I have been using the Ninja to make m own bread crumbs. My daughter purchsed a box of Panko to fry fish, it did not work out very well, the pan got too hot and burned. I prefer to flour my fried fish instead of bread or cornmeal.