Mike Idell's Wild Turkey Katsu
Turkey, fine wine, and a good friend to share it with. What more could you ask for? Austin H. Stapleton and Mike Idell met at an outdoor trade show, and quickly forged a deep friendship on fishing trips to the low country of Charleston, South Carolina and wild turkey hunting in Northern California. Mike’s wild turkey katsu recipe brings together all the flavors of their outdoor adventures.
Ingredients
- Wild turkey breast
- Salt
- Flavorless oil (sunflower or avocado)
- Breadcrumbs
- Flour
- 2 or 3 Eggs
- Cabbage
- Tonkatsu sauce and/or barbecue sauce of choice
- Rice vinegar (optional)
- Shoyu (optional)
Instructions
- Put a slice of turkey breast in a freezer bag and pound it with a mallet until it’s thin. Start from the middle and work your way to out the edges. Don’t over-pound the turkey—pound it evenly until it’s about ⅛ of an inch thick. It may seem thin, but it will thicken as it cooks. Repeat this multiple times if you have multiple cutlets.
- Season the cutlets with a few pinches of salt on each side. Meanwhile, heat a pan on medium high heat and fill with your flavorless oil.
- Set up a station next to your pan with the cutlets, a bowl of flour, egg wash, and breadcrumbs.
- Dredge each cutlet into the flour, then the egg wash, then cover in breadcrumbs.
- Drop the cutlets into the pan, spacing them out so they are not overlapping. You can fill the pan with as many cutlets as will fit without overlapping.
- Cook until the cutlets are golden brown on the outside, flipping once. This should only take a few minutes on each side.
- Remove the cooked cutlets from the pan and place them on a paper towel on a plate to absorb excess oil.
- Serve your cutlets with thinly sliced cabbage, a lemon wedge, and Tonkatsu sauce (Japanese barbecue sauce) or any barbecue sauce you like. Use rice vinegar and shoyu as desired to season the cabbage side. This dish is great served over rice.
