“Chicken katsu, katsu sauce, one scoop of mac salad, and two scoops of rice!”
These are the precise (and enthusiastically recited) makings of Bowl #2’s dream plate lunch-slash-birthday-request — shatteringly crisp Panko-crusted chicken thighs, juicy inside and deftly sliced, zealously dunked in a smoky-sweet-tart katsu sauce (mysteriously made, contrary to its Japanese moniker, from almost no Asian ingredients) and served with exactly one scoop of the efficiently-dubbed mac(aroni) salad and exactly two scoops of fluffy, snow-white rice. And, according to B2 (though not according to the environment), best eaten out of a Styrofoam clamshell.
Chicken katsu is only one of a ton of plate lunch combos out there, from kalua pork and lomi lomi salmon to Korean barbecue to the cheerfully named loco moco, but I’d never heard of “plate lunch” at all until I met B2. I feel like they represent a side of Hawaii cuisine I knew nothing about. There are all these associations that come to mind when you hear “Hawaiian,” and it turns out they’re not necessarily what it means to be “from Hawaii” (as B2 politely clarifies whenever he’s asked if he’s Hawaiian). There are the emblematic Hawaiian foods, like kalua pork and poi, and then there’s all this other food from Hawaii — a pan-Asian-American cuisine that’s not so much fusion as it is a slow, organic evolution of a food culture that embraces all its roots without forcing a collision of unlike things. Saimin, a kind of evolved ramen unique to Hawaii. Manapua, gigantic, plumped-up versions of char siu buns. White rice served with beef chili (okay, white rice served with everything), taro pies at McDonald’s, butter mochi, SPAM musubi. I mean, B2’s plate lunch of choice is what that Wikipedia article up top calls an evolution of the bento box! How awesome is that. And true to that description, this chicken katsu plate lunch is the perfect mish-mash of delicious Asian elements with quirky all-American ones.
For someone who grew up in the South with a totally (or at least partially) different idea of cookout food, I love that this, instead, is the stuff of B2’s childhood nostalgia. To pay it proper homage, I shelved our eco-consciousness for one day, ducked into our neighborhood diner, and sheepishly asked for a couple of empty Styrofoam trays (just in time, evidently!) for which they charged $1 and an odd look. They weren’t the three-compartment trays B2 had in mind, but we made do with teeny scoops of rice, squeezed in extra cozy — so there were still two! His birthday isn’t actually until next week, but an afternoon scarfing down crispy-tangy chicken, creamy macaroni, and comforting rice out of squeaky white trays was our idea of a good pre-celebration. One scoop mac salad, two scoops rice, one happy early-birthday Bowl.
Hope you’re all having wonderful Wednesdays!
This is part two of a birthday Hawaii series — you can find part one here, a recipe for hurricane popcorn!
Chicken katsu, mac salad & rice // a birthday Hawaii plate lunch!
For these recipes, I primarily consulted the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Cookbook and a few other sources, and tweaked according to what sounded good to us. We found that a touch of oyster sauce in the katsu sauce lent that perfect sweet-sour balance and gave us a sauce that I was tempted to guzzle down plain. For the katsu, we tried a few different dredging methods and found that the L&L cornstarch slurry method, not a dry-wet-dry dredge, gave the tastiest consistency — not too crunchy, but not too yielding. As for deep-frying, the shallowness of the oil makes this a tad more manageable than most, in my opinion, but if you’re feeling like hot oil just isn’t in your cards, you could also try using boneless thighs in this oven-baked panko chicken thighs recipe!
- Yield: serves 2-3 (with extra mac salad) 1x
Ingredients
- for the mac salad:
- 1 quart water
- 1 cup (4 oz) dried elbow macaroni
- 2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise (or more or less, to taste)
- 2 tbsp finely grated onion* (see Notes)
- 2 tbsp grated carrot
- 2 tbsp minced celery
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (or more or less, to taste)
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp milk (optional)
- for the katsu sauce:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/4 tsp Tabasco
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp chicken bouillon
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1/8 tsp garlic pepper
- for the chicken katsu:
- 1/2 lb (about 2–3) boneless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 2 cups panko, or more as needed
- to serve:
- 2 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- For the mac salad: Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepot. Add the elbow pasta and salt. Boil for 12 minutes or until quite soft. Drain the water and let pasta cool thoroughly, about 30 minutes.
- Whisk together all remaining ingredients. When pasta is fully at room temperature, add the remaining ingredients to the macaroni and fold until well-coated. Chill for at least one hour and up to several days in the refrigerator.
- Just before serving, you can thin the macaroni with about 2 tbsp milk if you like. Adjust seasonings to taste and enjoy cold.
- For the katsu sauce: Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until mixture thickens and bubbles are slow, shiny and viscous, like caramel. Transfer to a small container and chill until ready to use.
- For the chicken katsu: Open the chicken thighs and flatten. Cut off any excess fat or skin, then pound with a rolling pin or the bottom of a small bowl until the thighs are an even 1/2-inch in thickness. Whisk together water, egg, cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and garlic powder. Dip the chicken thighs into the cornstarch slurry, then thoroughly coat in panko.
- To fry, heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to 350 degrees. If you don’t have a deep-fry thermometer, heat the oil on medium heat until a small piece of chicken, when dropped into the oil, bubbles energetically. Fry the chicken thighs in the oil until golden brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes per side.
- Let the chicken thighs cool briefly, then slice and serve with two scoops rice and one scoop mac salad!
Notes
For the closest version to a local-style mac salad, cook the macaroni until very soft, and for the onion, grate the onion on the small holes of a box grater. The onion should be pulpy and liquid.
Surprisingly, the whole plate lunch will keep decently — mac salad keeps in the fridge for a few days, and I found the Panko on the chicken keeps the chicken refreshingly crunchy for much longer than a plain breading.
Kate
Chicken in a take out box makes me think of our recent trip to St. Lucia when we asked the hotel to pack up some jerk chicken for our flight home. The box exploded and it went ALL OVER my bag, everything stank of (albeit delicious) jerk sauce for weeks! This looks delicious and if I make it in the comfort of my own home that’ll be a much safer bet
tworedbowls
Oh my gosh NO!! I’m so sad at the thought of that lost chicken! RIP, jerk chicken….
Erica
I love katsu, and yours looks so amazingly crispy. The little scoops of rice are the cutest. You make me smile girl!! Happy Wednesday!
tworedbowls
You are too sweet, Erica!!! Thank you so much :):)
themoonblushbaker
These kind of random lunch boxes are such a reminder of old school street food. Asians have the urge to pair rice with everything even rice! Sweet salty mac salad with crunchy chicken and fluffy rice. Got to love B2’s taste!
tworedbowls
Bahaha “Asians have the urge to pair rice with everything even rice!” YES!! Thanks so much, Belinda 🙂
gringalicioustori
This is such a delicious looking meal! I’ve never had chicken katsu before but it sounds so good and your photos are amazing!
tworedbowls
Thank you so much, Tori! It’s definitely a treat if you ever find yourself at a place that has it!
Amanda | What's Cooking
What an awesome bday tribute! This looks so fab and I love the touch of takeout authenticity including but not limited to two round scoops; ) I love the way you describe the chicken here. Well done! Xo
Kristin | Tasty Joy
This is charming! And once again, I’ve learned new things from you. The sauce, especially, looks interesting.
Monica
I just love this. I see a box full of love right there! : ) Hope Bowl #2 had a wonderful birthday and enjoy his special lunch box. I’m sure it’s as good as it looks. It reminds me of takeout boxes in Hong Kong where we’d eat with plastic spoons! Love when food comes with a side of happy memories.
Erika
Let me send you my address so you can mail those to Atlanta. That mac salad is giving me southern backyard pit BBQ vibes.. Loves this!
Jdeesh
Not sure if you will see this or if you are still in Atlanta, but try Waikiki in Atlanta. They serve this exact dish and its amazing!
Michelle @ Hummingbird High
I love this hawaii birthday series for b2; I think it’s just so sweet and really adorable that you’re spoiling him like this! He’s a lucky man.
Also OMG CHICKEN KATSU. You have no idea how much chicken katsu I’ve eaten since arriving in SF. It’s embarrassing. Every Thursday, a katsu and katsu curry food truck parks outside my office and I indulge. It’s the best.
Brooke Bass
Ahhh this looks so darn tasty! And I love your words here about Hawaiin cuisine: “a pan-Asian-American cuisine that’s not so much fusion as it is a slow, organic evolution of a food culture that embraces all its roots without forcing a collision of unlike things.” What a beautiful, I mean really beautiful, way of saying it.
The mister and I are heading to Hawaii after graduation and between your new series (love that idea!) and Alana’s awesome Maui recs, we are going to be all prepared to eat our way through it!
Abby
Amazing styling, as always, Cynthia! And this looks so delicious. <3
alanafixfeastflair
YES. Just yes. To all of this. You nailed it, Cynthia. Plate lunch perfection. I’ll take it all, except can I sub potato mac salad instead (I don’t know what it is, I don’t love mac salad but I love potato mac salad)!?! 😀 :D: D 😀
stephanie
um. seriously, you are the best gf/fiancé/wifey ever 😀 i love how you went out to get the authentic styrofoam containers. and you even scooped the rice and mac!!
the photos, words, recipe, and sentiment behind this post just make me SO happy.
happy early birthday to b2. pretty sure his life is happy though, just to have you in it!
stephanie
ps – that b2 sure has good taste! both in women and food 😉
mandylee@ladyandpups
Haaaaaaha I love how you even used the takeout container! I always feel a little guilty using those for props (carbon footprint and all…), but they are the best!!
Sandra @ Heavenly Deviled Eggs
Wow, thank you for this. I used to live near a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Aloha Kitchen that served food just like this. Authentically Hawaiian according to the native Hawaiian who introduced me to it. I love that you’ve taught us how to make it at home. I can’t wait to give this a try!
Sara @ Cake Over Steak
ha! That macaroni salad addition really cracks me up here. To me, that screams “Pennsylvania Dutch.” Love it!
Betty | le Jus d'Orange
Ah, am loving this entire series! Haha, I just love the two exact scoops of rice – how sweet of you to recreate this for him :). Also, I definitely agree with you – Hawaiian food is not just fusion but has evolved into a whole new culture of food, deserving its own recognition. Love it!
DisplacedHousewife
I LOVE saimin and the plate lunch. Did I mentioned I went to HPA on the Big Island? This takes me back. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. xx
Katie @ Butterlust
Cynthia, your writing always takes my breath away! You truly have a way with words! And, quite obviously, food. I love that I can come to your space and learn something new every time! I have to agree with B2, some things just taste better out of styrofoam! (I can feel my environmental engineer boyfriend cringing at that one!) XO
Karishma
This is so sweet of you to make! And it looks incredible. Ah, that creamy macaroni? Omg!! Happy early birthday to b2!
Tieghan
Ok, you an amazing women and B2 is a lucky guy. Everything about this lunch plate has me crazy excited!
thejameskitchen
Wow, what a plate. I have to hide this page otherwise I will have to make this very soon …
Kathryn
Everything I’ve read/heard about Hawaiian plate lunches makes me think that I never want to eat anything other than them for the rest of my life. All my best things, in one handy box? I’m totally sold.
Jessie Snyder | Faring Well
I love this birthday special – how sweet! And now you have me craving everything Hawaiian. And the plate lunch concept I love, what a lucky dude, B2!
egeedee
Cynthia, you know it’s so funny because I read this post right as I was heading out to my birthday dinner at a restaurant with food from Hawaii! This recipe and write up made me doubly excited to try the food especially since I’d heard good things about the restaurant. It did not disappoint and I’m so happy that my small-ass-when-compared-to-Seattle town has a good – no GREAT from Hawaii restaurant! I love the photos here and I’m constantly bowled away by your framin and stylin and recipe-creatin, girl. I recommend your blog to all my food crazy friends because there is really nothing like trying food made by a food blogger. We are simple folk who just want to stay in and recreate pretty much all the best things in our kitchen just so we can keep staying in. Hope you’re doing well lady.
Lan | MoreStomach
this is so delightfully nostalgic and sweet. i’m envious that you guys are even able to consume double carbs + fried chicken.
one of dw’s fave childhood meals is called a Garbage Plate, served on a paper plate and consumed with plastic utensils. i know. i can’t deal.
Our Food Stories
such a sweet idea!! and looks very delish dear cynthia <3
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
Ohh Hawaiian plate lunch! Takes me back! I was lucky to spend three summers in Hawaii with my Aunt who lives there and it is my favorite place on Earth.
Her Heartland Soul
http://herheartlandsoul.com
Nik@ABrownTable
OMG katsu is so good, I get it often here just to taste that crunch. Can we classify it as comfort food? Haha, I love that B2 enjoys it in the styrofoam clamshell.
Ellie@fitforthesoul
Oh no, I’m officially grumbling at the stomach! This looks so heavenly even though it’s not the typical “gourmet” meal. And I don’t know why but many foods do taste best when eaten out of styrofoam, and I’m loving the snapshots on this post, Cynthia! And seeing B2’s shoulder haha.
Lynn | The Road to Honey
I think it is absolutely adorable that you went out of your way to serve B2’s favorite meal in a styrofoam box. It’s crazy how specific containers or serving vessels can make certain foods and drinks taste all the better. Btw. . .the chicken looks amazing. B2 is a lucky man to have won your heart.
Ira
Great post dear!
http://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/printed-sea-3880191
Sarah @ SnixyKitchen
Cynthia – I’m so impressed that you went out and picked up sytrofoam to-go containers for that authentic feel. B2 is one lucky guy – Lucas’s birthday is next week too – do you take online orders;) This looks like the most perfectly crisp chicken katsu ever and these photos are so so so beautiful!
Elizabeth
I love everything about this! The sauce and the katsu sound amazing. Totally going to try this sometime soon in lieu of my family’s traditional Sunday fried chicken.
As always, you pictures are stunning and your words engaging. I’m feeling like a need a re-do on my husband’s birthday now. I just love the way you’re celebrating!
Nicole
Love this! What a sweet birthday treat!
Sini | My Blue&White Kitchen
One chicken katsu, please.
Hugs to Brooklyn!! xx
B2!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Farha-faskitchen
Amazing dish, Cynthia.. And the sauce sounds just delicious.. I am waiting to try this out asap..
Hannah
I loooove Hawaiian mac salad but the few times I’ve tried to make it at home it’s never tasted like the real deal. I’m so excited to try your recipe for mac salad!
Graham Cracker (@glazedblog)
*shaking, crying, and daydreaming of hawaii*
you’re KILLING me. …and it; you always kill it.
RossC
A couple of years ago I learned how to make baked chicken katsu and konkatsu.. Both have been on my meal rotation since.. I’m always trying to figure out sides.. well heck… I am a huge fan of mac salad and, for some reason I never put it with katsu… That changes this week… I’m pleased to see you do NOT have vinegar in your mac salad and will try it your way to enjoy with the katsu..
Thank you… :O)
Anonymous
I miss Kona SO MUCH, this is such a delicious memory reload. Mahalo nui loa.