Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as like tonkatsu and schnitzel), topping , stuffing poultry, thickening , and adding inexpensive bulk to soups, meatloaf, and similar foods.
Types
Dry
Dry breadcrumbs are made from dry breads which have been baked or toasted to remove most remaining moisture, and may have a sandy or even powdery texture. Breadcrumbs are most easily produced by pulverizing slices of bread in a
food processor, using a steel blade to make coarse crumbs, or a grating blade to make fine crumbs. A
grater or similar tool will also do.
Fresh
The breads used to make soft or fresh breadcrumbs are not quite as dry, so the crumbs are larger and produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing. The
crumb of
breadcrumb also refers to the texture of the soft, inner part of a bread loaf, as distinguished from the crust, or "skin".
Panko
パン粉]] is a type of flaky breadcrumbs used in
Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for
frying foods, such as
tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing electrical current through the dough, which yields a bread without a crust, and then grinding the bread to create fine slivers of crumb.
It has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found in
European cuisine and maintains its texture baked or deep-fried, resulting in a lighter coating.
Outside Japan, its use has become more common in both Asian and non-Asian dishes. It is often used on seafood and is typically available in Asian markets, speciality stores, and many large
.
Panko is produced worldwide, particularly in Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.
Etymology
The Japanese first learned to make baked bread from the Portuguese. The word
パン粉 (panko) is derived from
pan, giving the word for bread in Japanese (derived from the Portuguese word "pão" for bread), and
-粉 (-ko), a Japanese
kanji indicating "
flour", "coating", "crumb", or "powder" on occasion, when used as a suffix (as in
komeko, "rice powder",
sobako, "
buckwheat flour", and
komugiko, "
wheat flour").
Breading
Breading (also known as
crumbing) is a dry
grain-derived
food coating for a piece of food made from breadcrumbs or a breading mixture with seasonings. Breading is well suited for
frying as it lends itself to creating a crisp coating around the food. Breading mixtures can be made of breadcrumb,
flour,
cornmeal, and
seasoning that the item to be breaded is dredged in before cooking. If the item to be breaded is too dry for the coating to stick, the item may first be moistened with
buttermilk, raw egg,
egg wash or other liquid.
Breading contrasts with batter, which is a grain-based liquid coating for food that produces a smoother and finer texture, but which can be softer overall.
In popular culture
In the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel", breadcrumbs are used by Hansel and Gretel to track their footpath. However, the breadcrumbs were eventually eaten by birds, subsequently leading them to become lost in the woods. The popularity of breadcrumbs in the fairy tale led to the use of the word
breadcrumb as a navigation element that allows users to keep track of their locations within programs or documents.
Gallery
File:990402-ians-recipe-01-IMG 4724.jpg|Bread fried in breadcrumbs and stuffed with chicken and corn
File:Panko - Paprika - 3.jpg|Panko breadcrumbs with paprika flavour
File:Panko - White - 2.jpg|Panko white breadcrumbs
File:971027-I'ANS-ATN-IMG 8772.jpg|IANS simple breadcrumbs
File:Tonkatsu at Butagumi in Nishi-Azabu.jpg|alt=Close up of Japanese breaded tonkatsu|Panko on Tonkatsu
File:971110-ILIA-Vanak-IMG 8870-2.jpg|alt=Fried shrimp|Fried shrimp with panko breadcrumbs
File:980722-Recipe-05-Shrimps-IMG 8660.jpg|alt=Shrimps with Panko|Shrimp coated by panko breadcrumbs
File:011221-White-IMG 3991.jpg|Panko breadcrumbs – white
File:011221-Paprika-IMG 3985.jpg|Panko breadcrumbs – paprika
File:011221-Spicy-IMG 3989.jpg|Panko breadcrumbs – spicy
