Ahi katsu made with crispy, breaded, fried pieces of fish topped with a delicious sauce is a great recipe to serve for your next meal.
‘Ahi is the Hawaiian word for tuna and a popular fish in many households in Hawai’i. There are different species of tuna, but ahi generally refers to the yellow fin tuna. It’s red flesh can be eaten raw boasting a mild flavor. It’s also commonly fried or grilled.
Ahi is a great source of protein and also low in calories and fat.
What is ahi katsu?
Katsu refers to a breaded and fried protein, often chicken. Ahi katsu is a variation of this. It’s often served in a plate lunch style dish with sticky, white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad.
All you need is a few simple ingredients from your pantry and you’ve got yourself an easy weeknight meal.
Key ingredients in ahi katsu
- Ahi. You can use any cut of ahi you’d like for this recipe, whether it be slabs or cubed up.
- Panko. These are Japanese style bread crumbs and an important component of the crunch factor.
- You’ll also need flour, eggs, garlic salt, pepper, and your frying oil of choice
- And you can’t forget a delicious dipping sauce.
I love a good unagi aioli as a dipping sauce. Unagi is an eel sauce that is sweet and savory and can be found in the Asian aisle in most grocery stores. If you feel adventurous and want to make your own you can find a recipe here.
How long will ahi katsu keep?
Ahi katsu is best eaten fresh, however you can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Can you freeze ahi katsu?
You can also make this recipe ahead of time and freeze, making it a great meal prep item. Place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
How to reheat?
In order to maintain the crispiness of the ahi katsu it is best to reheat by frying or baking either in the oven or toaster oven. You can reheat this in the microwave, but you will not get the original crispiness back.
Other ways to cook ahi katsu?
If you prefer a lighter version, you can certainly bake or air fry as well.
Substitutions
- If you can’t get your hands on ahi, you can use any other variety of fish as well. Other favorites are mahi mahi, ono, and opakapaka.
How to make ahi katsu?
- Heat a few tablespoons of the cooking oil of your choice over medium high heat. Ensure you have enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
- While the oil is heating up you can prep the fish.
- You’ll need 3 plates for your breading station. To one plate add garlic salt, pepper, and flour. Mix until combined. To another plate add eggs and whisk until combined. To the last plate add the panko.
- Now to bread the ahi. Dip the ahi in the flour mixture and ensure all sides of the ahi are coated. Then dip in eggs, again ensuring the whole fish is coated. And lastly dip in the panko mix covering the whole fish.
- Place the fish in the oil at 350F and fry for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- While the fish is frying you can make the dipping sauce. Add mayonnaise, unagi sauce, and garlic to a small bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Serve ahi with rice and macaroni salad and drizzle the sauce over the top. Enjoy!
Other great seafood recipes
- Spicy tuna sushi
- Poke nachos
- Sushi bake
- Shoyu ‘ahi poke
- Macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi
- Imitation crab dip
Ahi Katsu
Equipment
Ingredients
- Cooking oil of choice
- 1/2 cup flour
- garlic salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup panko
- 2 eggs
- 16 ounces ahi
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon unagi sauce
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
Instructions
- Heat a few tablespoons of the cooking oil of your choice over medium high heat. Ensure you have enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
- While the oil is heating up you can prep the fish.
- You’ll need 3 plates for your breading station. To one plate add garlic salt, pepper, and flour. Mix until combined. To another plate add eggs and whisk until combined. To the last plate add the panko.
- Now to bread the ahi. Dip the ahi in the flour mixture and ensure all sides of the ahi are coated. Then dip in eggs, again ensuring the whole fish is coated. And lastly dip in the panko mix covering the whole fish.
- Place the fish in the oil at 350F and fry for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- While the fish is frying you can make the dipping sauce. Add mayonnaise, unagi sauce, and garlic to a small bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Serve ahi with rice and macaroni salad and drizzle the sauce over the top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
© Relle Lum for Keeping It Relle. Please do not copy and paste or screenshot recipes online or on social media. I’d love it if you share a link with a photo instead. Mahalo!
Tried this recipe? Tag me on social. I’d love to see and share it.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keeping.it.relle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keepingitrelle
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/keepingitrelle
Tried and love this recipe? Please give it a rating.
Pin for later.
This recipe was so easy and my family LOVED it, they loved the crispiness of the panko and the sauce was truly bomb, thanks Relle!
One of my favorite things to eat & recipe tastes great
If we want to air fry this, what temperature and how long would you recommend?
Hi Lindsey. I usually go with 400F for 10-12 minutes. But you’ll have to try with yours and see what you like.
Thank you! 🙂
You’re welcome!
I just love Reno’s ahi katsu from fresh catch. Which is hilarious because I’m actually extremely allergic to raw/undercooked Ahi, and other certain raw or undercooked seafoods (even went into anaphylaxis on my 19th birthday at Tanaka of Tokyo from eating undercooked lobster) but I only became allergic to it when I turned 12. Before that I was the opihi and poke queen lol, ate everything raw that we grow up enjoying in Hawaii. However, I was still able to eat it if fully cooked. But I guess the lobster wasn’t that time and since then, have steered clear of any seafood (except salmon for some reason I can eat that raw) but recently, I have weirdly been able to eat opihi, and soft shell crab. So, because I can now eat that, I tried ahi poke. But still broke out in hives and itchy, so itchy. 😢 However, I really wanted to try ahi katsu since it can be fully cooked. I finally went to fresh catch kaneohe and got me a plate and oh my gosh it was the best ahi experience I’ve ever had. Lol usually I don’t like ahi cooked because it tends to get too dry and because of that, to me, it loses its flavor and I can’t focus on anything else but that dry flakey junk fish. However, reno’s ahi was so tender and moist, not dry AT ALL… and I wondered if he has a trick up his sleeve… lol since u make an ahi katsu recipe that sounds super delicious as well… maybe u can answer my question. As I’m going to try make YOUR recipe instead of Reno’s. 🤩😉The unagi mayo sauce is what caught my eye and sounded more ono than the sauce at fresh catch. Lol. So, my question is… do you know how to ensure your ahi does not get dry? Is there a marinating process before u bread the fish? My Aunty once told me an old wives tale, that if you soak fish in MILK prior to cooking it, it will help to tenderize the fish and avoid dryness and will also help with the fishy gaminess of the fish… ? What u think sis? Have u ever heard that or done it before? I like try but I’m afraid it might not be a true fact and taste gross and milky.. and who wants to eat fish that tastes like milk? Lol or worse, what if it taste like sour milk or something. Yuck! My Aunty is OLD, so idk if she is remembering correctly I’m or if Aunty is getting too old for advise… lmao. Lmk if you have any advice or can answer my question. How to ensure a moist piece of fully cooked ahi/fish in general besides NOT over cooking it… mahalo, kalamai i wala’au too much sometimes. Heehee
Aloha. If you ask most chefs they will tell you ‘ahi should not be served well done for that reason, it dries out. I usually under cook mine to prevent that. I’m not sure there’s a great way to prevent drying. Adding the unagi aioli will help or maybe some shoyu. You can try to sear the outside then low an slow steam or pan fry until cooked through. The sear will lock in some of those moisture, but it won’t be like eating it a little under cooked. Hope that helps. Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.