Oven Fried Panko Chicken

Guess what? We are officially a pro-panko household.

My dad was right. This stuff is great. Tonight I made oven-fried panko chicken and Avo and I were both won over by the light and crispy texture of Japanese bread crumbs.

"I feel like we're eating at a Japanese restaurant," I told Avo, since we also had salad with miso dressing and rice with soy sauce. "I should be wearing my Kimono."

Years ago for one of my birthdays, Avo bought me a beautiful Kimono that I have only worn once or twice on Halloween.

(To set the scene, you should note that while we ate, the girls were eating popcorn and watching "The Brady Bunch" on DVD).

Then, right after our lovely panko-inspired dinner, Avo confronted me with something that's been bothering him.

"I see that you got this (pointing to a brand new container of sea salt) when we already have all of that (pointing to an old container of kosher salt)."

"Well, some recipes call for sea salt," I said, defending my purchase.

"Oh, we've reached that point, have we?"

"Apparently, we have," I said.

"I'm living with Alice Waters!"

And then I headed out to buy a pint of chocolate chip Haagen Dazs.

I am guessing that Alice Waters makes her own ice cream.

Panko Power

"Do you know about Panko?" my dad asked when he called the other day.

"Yes, dad, you've only told me about Panko every time we have spoken in the last few weeks!"

My dad is just a bit obsessed with Panko.

"What's Panko?" you ask.

Panko are Japanese bread crumbs (I'm pretty sure that Panko translates to "bread crumbs" in Japanese. Correct me if I'm wrong). They are supposed to be lighter and crispier than traditional bread crumbs.

Apparently, my dad isn't the only one obsessed with them. You can read about Panko in detail here.

Despite my dad's urging -- or perhaps because of it -- I steadfastly refused to give Panko a try. But today I finally gave in and bought a container of the stuff. This weekend, I plan to experiment with it and report back.

I've already begun to research recipes that call for Panko (pretty much anything you make with bread crumbs, you can make with Panko).

This Panko-Crusted Cod sounds good. So does this oven-fried panko chicken.

Have you ever heard about Panko? What do you use it for?

If I try this stuff, maybe my dad will finally lay off on the Panko pitch. Maybe I will even join the Panko proselytizing bandwagon.