Kushikatsu – Osaka’s Breaded Skewers

Small skewers of meat, shrimp and vegetables, coated in fine panko, deep-fried and then dipped just once into a thin, dark sauce.

A counter, an ice-cold drink, and golden skewers arriving in small batches, still piping hot.

The coating crunches as you bite into it, the beef or shrimp stays juicy inside, and the dark, tangy, slightly sweet sauce seeps into every ridge of the crust. Between bites, a piece of raw cabbage refreshes your mouth. You promise yourself the next one will be the last, then reach for another.

What is kushikatsu ?

Kushikatsu is an Osaka specialty : small bites threaded onto skewers, dipped in batter, rolled in very finely sifted panko, then quickly deep-fried.

Each skewer holds just one ingredient, ensuring even cooking. They are dipped into a thin Worcestershire-based sauce, lighter than the thick tonkatsu sauce served with breaded pork cutlets. At the table, there is one rule : dip once, never twice.

The name describes the dish : kushi means “skewer” and katsu comes from the English word cutlet, itself derived from the French “côtelette”.

In Tokyo, it is more commonly called kushiage : several ingredients alternate on the same skewer, the breadcrumbs are coarser and the sauce is thicker.

Born in the working-class district of Shinsekai

Kushikatsu emerged in the late 1920s in Shinsekai, an Osaka district populated by laborers and foundry workers.

In 1929, Yoshie Hyakuno opened Kushikatsu Daruma, serving inexpensive, filling breaded skewers that could be eaten standing up, with one hand. A street vendor, Yoshinobu Matsushita, however, claimed to have been selling a similar dish as early as 1926 under the name “Nikatsu”.

One skewer, one ingredient : the rule was as practical as it was culinary. The pieces cooked evenly, and the vendor tallied the bill by counting the empty skewers left on the counter.

Kushikatsu went on to become part of Osaka’s popular comfort food scene, known as B-kyū gurume, alongside takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

At the counter, the sauce sits in a shared stainless steel container, hence the ban on dipping a skewer again once you have taken a bite, known as nido-zuke kinshi.

Raw cabbage, served in unlimited quantities, refreshes the palate and doubles as a spoon for scooping up more sauce. Since Covid-19, many establishments have replaced the shared container with individual bottles.

The main ingredients in kushikatsu

You can choose whatever ingredients you like for the skewers : cubed beef and chicken thigh, thin slices of pork wrapped around the skewer, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, eggplant, onion, hard-boiled quail eggs or cheese-stuffed chikuwa. Cut everything into small pieces. A compact skewer fries quickly and keeps its coating crisp.

The batter combines flour, egg, milk and water, with a little grated Japanese yam, or yamaimo, which makes it light and sticky.

The panko is sifted before coating : the finer crumbs form a thin, even crust. Traditional kushikatsu counters fry in beef tallow, known as heddo, but a neutral frying oil works very well at home.

The sauce starts with red wine heated to cook off the alcohol, thinned with bonito dashi, sweetened with honey and zarame sugar, then finished with Worcestershire sauce, a little tonkatsu sauce and ketchup. It stays thin and is served well chilled, with raw green cabbage cut into large pieces.

Technical tips for great kushikatsu

Use skewers shorter than 15 cm and bite-sized pieces weighing around 20 g. Bread about ten skewers at a time, just before lowering them into oil at 170 °C. Allow about one minute for vegetables and two for meat.

Sifted panko burns quickly. Remove the crumbs after each batch with a tea strainer, otherwise they will blacken and give the next skewers a bitter taste. Drain on a wire rack and serve immediately, with the chilled sauce and cabbage.