My Favorite Dish: Kawa Ni’s Chicken Katsu Parm w/Kimchi Vodka Sauce

When Kawa Ni messes around with fusion, they don’t miss.

Over three years ago, at one of the friends and family previews of Kawa Ni’s expansion into the space next door, I remember asking chef-owner Bill Taibe which newish dishes I should try in addition to my usual pork + garlic ramen, karaage don, spicy lamb dan dan, and pork Szechuan dumplings.

His reply: “I gotta tell ya, one of my favorites, and a sleeper on this menu, is the kimchi carbonara.”

In the present, Kawa Ni’s carbonara is no longer a sleeper.

Also in the present, and another foray into Italian–Asian mashups, is their chicken katsu parmigiana.

Close up for effect

This isn’t some run of the mill, fried but not crispy, under seasoned, not tender, dry from a lack of sauce chicken parm that you get from your neighborhood slice shop when you’re too lazy to cook.

This one holds its crunch factor. There’s heat. You can cut it with a fork. It’s saucy. It’s cheesy. You can taste all the Asian flavors (kimchi, gochujang, and rayu, a Japanese sesame chili oil), yet, you still know you’re eating chicken parm with vodka sauce.

Chef Chris Gonzalez offered a little insight into Kawa Ni’s new cutlet.

“It’s koji brined (to add flavor and to tenderize it),” he explains. “We start with good quality chicken, brine it, let it sit to air dry. We used to pound it out, but now we use a big tortilla press to tenderize it more. The biggest thing that makes it a katsu is the breadcrumbs we get from Japan. Chef Bill created it along with our whole kitchen that’s stacked with talent right now. The sauce is a vodka sauce with onion soubise, tomato paste, kimchi, gochujang, crunchy sesame seeds in the rayu, and chunks of nduja for a nice little bite to it. Stracciatella and little bonito flakes on top. It sounds like a lot of spice components, but we balance it out. It stays crispy because it’s fried, and a katsu, and we put the sauce on after (it’s not baked with sauce and cheese on top).”

Unlike Kawa Ni’s super limited, Thursdays-only katsu burger, their chicken katsu parm can be had daily, although it is limited to around a few dozen per day, and frequently gets 86’d due to its rising popularity.

Ask about it. And if you can score this plate-sized crunchy, saucy, spicy, cheesy guilty pleasure, don’t forget to request a side of homemade milk bread as to not let the remnants of the vodka sauce and any fried chicken bits go to waste.

kawaniwestport.com

Matcha tiramisu—just in case you need a sweet ending that’s also fusion.