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Japanese Chicken Dish

Re: Chicken Tatsut-age
From: Caireen
Date: 2/11/2019, 6:02 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

On 2/11/2019 6:10 PM, Caireen wrote:

Hi Uncle Phaedrus

I’m looking for a Japanese chicken recipe. It is a dish I had years ago at a Japanese 
restaurant and want to make it at home as authentically as possible. 

It’s known as Chicken Tatsut-age or something like that. I’m doing this from memory.  
LOL

Do you think you can help me please?

Cheers

Caireen

Hello Caireen,

Was this like a chicken filet pounded and coated with Panko bread crumbs and then fried?

What was the name and location of the restaurant?

Phaed

On 2/12/2019 10:06 PM, Caireen wrote:

Hi Phaed

It was a restaurant named Teppanyaki in Adelaide, South Australia, that is now closed.  
I was about 12 years old at the time, so many years ago.  But I remember it like yesterday.  
I have sought the recipe for years with no avail.

The meat was shaped like a boneless chicken leg that had been crumbed with something, but 
not Panko & there was a dipping sauce that made the dish sensational. The crumbs were very 
fine and in a thin, very even layer on the chicken.  How it was actually cooked, I have no 
idea.   

Hope that helps
Caireen

Hello Caireen,

Well, actually it didn't help much. You see, I cannot find a Japanese chicken dish called "Chicken Tatsut-age."  I wanted the name of the restaurant in the hopes that I could find their menu online in order to verify the name of the dish.  You say it was named "Teppanyaki", but "teppanyaki" is a style of cooking, and that word may be found in the names of many Japanese restaurants. "Teppanyaki" refers to the large flat metal griddle on which the chefs cook the food. It may be part of the name of a restaurant in order to let the customer know that they serve teppanyaki-cooked food, but it would be descriptive, not the entire name. In Adelaide alone there are these: "Samurai Teppanyaki", "Sakura Teppanyaki", and "Hotaru Teppanyaki."  In the U.S. we often call this type of restaurant a "Japanese Steak House" or (probably incorrectly) a "Hibachi Grill."(A "hibachi" is a charcoal grill, not a flat metal griddle.)

Since I could not find the correct menu, then I could not find the correct name of your chicken dish. Studying the menus of the other teppanyaki restaurants in Adelaide, I found nothing with a name similar to "Chicken Tatsut-age." They all serve "Chicken karaage", which is Japanese fried chicken, and "Teppanyaki Chicken", which is simply boneless pieces of chicken cooked on the teppanyaki griddle.  Searching for Japanese chicken dishes, I also found "Chicken Katsu," which sounds a bit like "tatsut," so I thought I might have a winner with that dish, but "Chicken Katsu" is boneless chicken coated with Panko bread crumbs and then fried. You say that what you had was not coated with Panko bread crumbs. Some type of dipping sauce might be served with any of these, or drizzled over them.

There is a recipe with a picture here for "chicken karaage": Chicken Karaage
Same for "chicken katsu" here: Chicken Katsu
Same for "chicken teppanyaki" here: Chicken Teppanyaki

I could not find anything else, so I have hit a dead-end.

If your dish was none of these three, then I still need the exact name of the dish in order to proceed. I still have hopes that if I had the correct, full name of the restaurant, then I might be able to find a copy of their menu or a mention of the dish on a message board.

I will post this for reader input.

Phaed

Subject: "Japanese Chicken Dish" request, 2/14/19
From: "Virginia" 
Date: 7/1/2021, 5:33 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

After sending you my previous e-mail (regarding Lenhardt's Sailor Schnitzel), 
I'm now exploring your site again to see what's been posted since I last looked.

Regarding "Japanese Chicken Dish," 2/14/19:  Tatsuta-age chicken is a very common 
Japanese chicken dish.  However, there are probably endless variations.  My local 
Japanese restaurant uses the technique for chicken wings, for instance.  
However, something like the following might provide a model:

Chicken Tatsuta-age

Virginia