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Panko

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Chef Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger) confesses that he "fell in love with them." Roy Yamaguchi (Roy's Restaurants) entrusts signature dishes to them. The objects of these master chefs' affections? Crumbs.

Your favorite chefs are captivated by plain old bread crumbs? No -- they're in love with the Japanese crumbs called panko, truly la creme de la crumb!

The basics: Though you may read that panko are rice-flour crumbs, they're made from wheat bread, just like Western-style bread crumbs. Loaves of traditional Japanese bread are dried, then shredded into crispy flakes.

Special fast baking methods (involving microwaves, metal plates, etc.) result in crustless breads with porous crumbs that, in Tsai's words, "are airier than Western kinds, and therefore make the most delicate crusts; they also fry to a gorgeous golden brown."

Panko crumbs are large, elongated and light, so they stay crisp when coating deep-fried pork, chicken, or seafood. Tonkatsu, Japanese pork cutlets, benefit from this non-soggy coating.

Selecting: Shirakiku makes honey-coated panko and Mums a corn panko, but most are unseasoned white crumbs. I've tried several brands and all were good.

Storing: When sealed, panko keeps almost indefinitely, but open packages should be placed in airtight containers.

Uses: Panko does everything regular bread crumbs can do -- only better! Besides coating fried foods, panko makes crispy toppings for casseroles and other baked dishes. No longer confined to Japanese recipes, it stars in such dishes as Chicken Schnitzel with Chanterelles and Veal Scallopini with Lemon-Caper Aioli.

Chef Beverly Gannon (Haliimaile General Store) mixes panko into her Rock Shrimp and Crab Cakes with Baby Spinach -- the cakes are panko-coated, as well.

Yamaguchi's signature meatloaf derives its texture from panko. He pairs it with crispy, panko-coated onion rings. Tsai also uses panko in his Asian Meatloaf, seasoning batches of crumbs with dried thyme, basil, ginger, pepper and chili powder.

You can experiment with your own panko blends, adding herbs, sesame seeds, Parmesan cheese or finely chopped nuts before coating fresh fish or stuffing mushrooms. If you're not in a creative mood, panko recipes abound in books and on recipe Web sites.

Where to buy: In the Asian section of your favorite supermarket or in Asian markets, often on sale for under a dollar per package. A small price to pay for requited love.

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