Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

What’s the secret to the feather-light crispy breading that coats the best Japanese fried cutlets? Nama panko. Everyone is familiar with dried panko breadcrumbs, but in the States, it’s almost impossible to find nama panko, which translates to “fresh” panko. Nama panko is the softer, fluffier, and flakier version of dried panko, and it’s made from fresh loaves of <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/shokupan-japanese-milk-bread">shokupan</a>, Japanese milk bread. It’s the go-to breading ingredient for tonkatsu shops in Japan, and it fries up into a beautifully crisp and impossibly light crust. The catch: Unless you live in Japan, you’re probably not going to find a bag of nama panko at the store, so you’ll have to make it yourself. We promise it’s worth it.

Nama Panko (Fresh Panko Breadcrumbs)