Panko Breadcrumbs

I have a refreshing change for you today. It's not baking! I've been curious about panko breadcrumbs for a while, and my supermarket conveniently placed them in a basket by the fish counter, so after walking past them for a few weeks I finally fell for their trick and bought a packet. But at least my curiosity has been satisfied.

Just one pic today I'm afraid. Only truly professional food bloggers are prepared to let their dinner go cold for the sake of photographs.

Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese breadcrumb that make for an extra light and crispy coating. We are pretty keen on home made fish and chips in our house, so I coated our fish with them. Both of my kids are allergic to egg, so I dipped their fish in milk first, then the breadcrumbs. I used egg to coat mine, but I must say they stuck not too badly to the milky fish and it was barely worth cracking an egg just for me (except for the research for your sake of course).

I fried the fish, as usual, in quite a lot of oil. But it would take true deep-frying to really make the breadcrumbs look like they do on the packet. My result was good though; lovely, crispy and crunchy, but I have to say only a little better than using ordinary old breadcrumbs. I am pleased to have a whole packet to use up but after that I think I will stick to using freebie homemade breadcrumbs. Perhaps I'd try them again if I had someone special (such as any of you guys) coming for dinner (not that my kids aren't... you know... it's just they don't always appreciate fine cuisine).