What is panko flour ? Panko or panko flour comes from Japanese cuisine and is the Asian version of traditional breadcrumbs . Panko are flakes made from crustless, dried white bread. The coarser flakes produce a light, fluffy coating.
Use in the kitchen:
Panko can be used in the kitchen as an alternative to classic breadcrumbs and, due to the way it is made, tends to produce lighter and crispier breading. It is made from grated panko bread, and other ingredients such as wheat flour , corn starch , shortening, tapioca starch , salt , sugar ordry yeast are often added. Make sure it is organic quality and, if possible, vegan.
To vary the look and taste of the panko breading, you can mix other ingredients into the finished panko flour as desired, for example black sesame seeds . There is also colored panko flour, e.g. with paprika powder or with annatto (seeds of the Orléans bush, as food coloring E 160b). 1
This type of breadcrumbs is mainly produced in Japan, Korea, Thailand, China and Vietnam. In these countries, it is mainly used to bread fish, seafood, chicken and pork. A traditional dish in Japan is Tonkatsu, pork cutlet with Panko flour. This Japanese breadcrumbs is also suitable for breading vegetables. The traditional way is to coat the food in beaten egg and then rub it with Panko. You can find a vegan version in the following recipe:
Vegan recipe for kohlrabi schnitzel:
Ingredients : 1-2 small kohlrabi , plant milk (e.g. oat drink ), panko, corn starch , spelt flour ,sunflower oil .
Preparation : Peel the kohlrabi and cut into finger-thick slices. You can shorten the frying time by blanching it briefly, about 5 minutes in boiling water. Then put some plant milk in a bowl and 2 tablespoons of spelt flour and 2 tablespoons of starch in a plate. Also prepare an additional plate with about 3 tablespoons of panko. If you don't have a deep fryer, you can fill a small saucepan with sunflower oil so that the oil is about 3-4 cm high.
First, dip the kohlrabi slices in plant milk, then turn them in the flour-starch mixture and moisten them again with milk. Finally, coat the schnitzels in panko and fry them in sunflower oil until they are golden brown. Serve with salad or chutney .
Vegan recipes with Panko can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".
| Not only vegans or vegetarians should read this: Vegans often eat unhealthily. Avoidable nutritional mistakes . |
Shopping - where to buy?
Panko breadcrumbs can definitely be found in online shops and in Asian food markets. In Japan, this breadcrumbs can be bought in all supermarkets, in Europe only some supermarkets stock them. We found them at Migros , Rewe , Edeka and Spar , for example. Coop , Denner , Volg , Aldi , Lidl , Hofer etc. do not stock them in their permanent range, if at all only as promotional items. You have to look for organic quality in specialty shops or by mail order.
Homemade:
How are breadcrumbs made? To make your own panko bread, you need white toast or white bread for the quick version, from which you first remove the crust. The remaining bread crumbs are pulled into coarse flakes and left to air dry for two to three days. Alternatively, you can dry the pieces of bread in the oven at a low temperature (max. 50 °C). Then chop the bread flakes in an electric chopper or with a hand blender until they have a coarse structure. You can also reverse this process: first chop the cooled bread and then briefly fry the flakes without oil in a coated pan - or dry them. For the more wholesome version, panko flour can also be made from fine wholemeal bread .
You can bake your own Panko bread with the following typical ingredients: 400 g wheat flour (type 550), 100 g corn starch, 50 g tapioca starch, palm oil ( rapeseed oil is also a good alternative), a packet of dry yeast and 250 ml of water at room temperature. It is best to follow the preparation steps of a classic bread recipe. 2
Storage:
Since Panko is a dried food, it should be stored in a dry, airtight container to prevent it from spoiling due to humidity. The contents of opened packages should therefore be placed in an airtight container. Homemade Panko flour can also be frozen in a container and used when needed.
Production method:
The bread used to make Panko bread since the 1970s is not baked in the oven in Japan. It is heated directly with electricity. The yeast dough is placed in a container that is attached to two electrodes. The current heats the dough so that it cooks within 10 minutes without forming a crust or browning. The energy requirement is very low and the consistency of the crumb can also be adjusted individually. 3
Panko bread can also be baked in special microwave ovens, then it is chopped, the flour is dried and sorted by particle size. 1
Ingredients - nutritional value - calories:
The ingredients vary depending on the manufacturer, with wheat flour , fat (butter or hydrogenated palm fat ),yeast and table salt being the basic ingredients. The addition of other ingredients such as corn starch , modified tapioca starch and sugar is possible.
The energy content is approximately 358 kcal/100g, mainly due to the high carbohydrate content of 79 g/100g; the protein content is 10 g and the fat content is 2.1 g.
The sodium content in particular is very high here at around 280 mg/100g, although this is much higher in ordinary breadcrumbs : 400 mg/100g. 4 The minimum content of 1500 mg of sodium per day 5 can also be achieved with unsalted foods. Regular sodium excess promotes high blood pressure and subsequently heart failure, especially in overweight people. Increased urine excretion can cause kidney damage.
Panko contains approximately 0.6 mg of manganese per 100g. This is the same value as in regular breadcrumbs or durum wheat semolina . Manganese is an essential trace element and acts as a cofactor in various enzymes. Wheat germ , for example, contains high amounts of manganese at 13 mg per 100g.
If possible, always read the ingredients list of purchased products to avoid hydrogenated fats, too much salt and unnecessary preservatives.
You can find all the ingredients of Panko flour, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.
Health aspects - effects:
The health value of white bread is not known to be very good. It contains very few or no nutrients. The combination with mostly unhealthy, often hydrogenated fats, as is the case with breadcrumbs, is questionable. In addition, heating these fats promotes the formation of trans fats and acrylamide. The amino acid asparagine, from which acrylamide is formed when starchy products are heated, can vary greatly depending on the type of grain. Acrylamide is suspected of being carcinogenic and mutagenic. 6,7
Studies show that frequent consumption of fried foods promotes heart disease and cancer. In addition, fried foods have a negative effect on blood sugar levels. 8
If you eat fried foods every day, especially meat and fish, in combination with a lot of salt, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease increases. 9
Regular consumption of these fatty foods has been shown to promote the development of type 2 diabetes. 10 This type was previously called adult-onset diabetes, but non-insulin-dependent diabetes is also increasingly occurring in young adults. The body can no longer use the hormone (I.) produced by the pancreas effectively, or it generally produces too little of it.
Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects:
Is Panko gluten-free? No, because Panko is made almost exclusively from wheat bread and wheat contains the allergen gluten. This allergen can lead to intolerances in genetically predisposed people. People who suffer from the autoimmune disease celiac disease or celiac sprue must strictly avoid gluten. If you are sensitive to gluten, you should pay attention to your personal tolerance level. 11
General information:
What is Panko in German? The word comes from Japanese (パン粉) and means bread flour in German.
The "mie de pain" known in the West is very similar to Panko flour, as it is also made from white bread without the crust. In contrast to Panko, however, this variant is finer and fresh, not dried. 12
Literature - Sources:
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