Air Fryer Chicken Katsu

• 1 1/2 lbchicken breasts — 2 large, halved horizontally and pounded to 1/2 inch
• 3/4 tspfine sea salt
• 1/4 tspblack pepper
• 1/3 cupall-purpose flour
• 2eggs — beaten with 1 tsp water
• 1 1/2 cupspanko breadcrumbs
• 2 tbspneutral oil — for toasting the panko
• 1/2 cuptonkatsu sauce — bottled; contains soy — check the label, some brands include anchovy or oyster extract
• 4 cupsgreen cabbage — very finely shredded
• 1lemon — cut into wedges

Method

1. 01

   Toast the panko first — this is the whole trick. Toss it with the oil in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, 3–4 minutes until evenly golden. Spread on a plate to cool. Air-fried breading doesn't brown the way oil-fried breading does, so you brown it in advance.

2. 02

   Season the pounded cutlets with salt and pepper. Set up a line: flour, beaten egg, toasted panko. Coat each cutlet — flour patted thin, egg dripped off, panko pressed on firmly with your palm so it survives the flip.

3. 03

   Air fry at 380°F in a single layer (work in two batches — crowding steams the crust), 12–14 minutes, flipping gently at the halfway mark, until the thickest part reads 165°F.

4. 04

   Rest the cutlets 3 minutes on a rack, then slice crosswise into strips — katsu is always sliced, so it can be eaten with chopsticks and so the sauce gets into the cut edges.

5. 05

   Serve over the shredded cabbage with lemon wedges and the tonkatsu sauce poured over or alongside. Rice and miso soup make it a proper teishoku set.