Panko

Take panko in your hand and feel it first. Real panko is light, almost weightless, dry like paper shavings, not like dust. That lightness is the whole trick. Ordinary breadcrumbs are made from baked bread with a crust, ground fine and dense. Panko is made from bread baked without a crust, in big airy loaves, then broken into coarse flakes. Drop it in hot oil and listen. It sizzles loud and fast, and what comes out is golden and crackling. Bite into it while it's still warm — the shell should give, then crunch.

Some people say panko and fine dried breadcrumbs are interchangeable, just a texture preference. No! Fine crumbs pack tight and fry dense. Panko stays open and light. Fry two cutlets side by side, one in each, and you'll hear it before you taste it — the panko one crunches loud, the other just crumbles.

Choose panko by look, not by the bag. Flakes should be pale and uneven, never uniform like sawdust. Smell it — plain fresh bread, nothing sour, nothing stale. A hundred grams gives you 395 kilocalories, 13.35 grams of protein and 71.98 grams of carbohydrate, mostly starch — remember, this is bread, not a garnish of air.