Panko Chicken with Oroshi Ponzu

The other day I judged a competition at Leiths School of Food and Wine to find the best food and wine match with one of three selected wines from Brown Brothers of Australia - their Dry Muscat, Tarrango and Orange Muscat and Flora. The winning entry was Yasue Yamaji’s simple dish of deep fried chicken fillets served with a ponzu sauce which she paired with the Dry Muscat, a versatile, off-dry white which works particularly well with Asian flavours. It was charmingly presented with a pair of chopsticks in a paper bag inscribed with Yasue’s name. Do try it.

Serves 4 as a starter

3 large chicken breast fillets
1/2 a daikon (mooli), grated
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
50g panko (dried white breadcrumbs)
1 egg, beaten
50g plain flour
Salt and pepper

Oil for shallow frying (100ml-200ml)

For the ponzu sauce
15ml rice wine vinegar
75ml soy sauce
10ml mirin
30ml lemon juice
10ml lime juice

5 x 5 cm konbu (Japanese seaweed)

To make the ponzu put all the ingredients for the ponzu in a bowl, add the konbu and leave to infuse for at least 20 minutes.Grate the daikon and squeeze lightly. Chop the spring onions. Cut the chicken breasts into strips. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Put the egg in another bowl and the panko in yet another. Dip the chicken fillets in the flour, shake off any excess, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok until it will brown a cube of bread in a few seconds. Shallow fry the chicken fillets until crispy and golden brown. Arrange the chicken fillets on 4 serving plates with the grated daikon alongside or on top. Remove the konbu from the ponzu, then pour over the chickens or serve in a bowl at the side. Sprinkle with the sliced spring onions.