Bread crumbs

For other uses, see Bread crumbs (disambiguation).

Breadcrumbs on a plate from a box

Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants: breading, crispies) are small particles of dry bread, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickening stews, adding inexpensive bulk to meatloaves and similar foods, and making a crisp and crunchy coating for fried foods, especially breaded cutlets like tonkatsu and schnitzel. The Japanese variety of bread crumbs is called panko.

Overview

Dry breadcrumbs

Dry breadcrumbs are made from dry breads which have been baked or toasted to remove most remaining moisture, and may even have a sandy or even powdery texture. Bread crumbs are most easily produced by pulverizing slices of bread in a food processor, using a steel blade to make coarse crumbs, or a grating blade to make fine crumbs. A grater or similar tool will also do.

Fresh breadcrumbs

The breads used to make soft or fresh bread crumbs are not quite as dry, so the crumbs are larger and produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing. The crumb of bread crumb is also a term that refers to the texture of the soft, inner part of a bread loaf, as distinguished from the crust, or "skin".

Different from croutons

They are not to be confused with croutons, though both are made of dried bread. Croutons are approximately cubic pieces typically 0.5 to 8 cubic centimeters in size while breadcrumbs are irregularly shaped and range in size from roughly 1 to 500 cubic millimeters. Both probably originated as a way to use stale bread and unwanted crust.

Panko

Baked panko crusted pork with pineapple sauce over udon

Panko (パン粉) is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts. It has a crisper, more airy texture than most types of breading found in Western cuisine and resists absorbing oil or grease when fried, resulting in a lighter coating. White panko is made from bread which has had the crusts removed while tan “panko” is made from the whole loaf of bread. Outside Japan, its use is becoming more popular in both Asian and non-Asian dishes: It is often used on fish and seafood and is often available in Asian markets, specialty stores, and, increasingly, in many large supermarkets.

Panko is produced worldwide, particularly in Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.In February 2012, the US fast-food chain Wendy's introduced a cod fillet sandwich that they advertised as having a panko breading.

Etymology

The Japanese first learned to make bread from the Portuguese: The word panko is derived from pão (Portuguese for "bread") and -ko, a Japanese suffix indicating "flour", "crumb", or "powder" (as in komeko, "rice powder", sobako, "buckwheat flour", and komugiko, "wheat flour").

Breading

Cornmeal breading

Breading (also known as crumbing) is a dry grain-derived food coating for a piece of food such as meat, vegetable, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustacean, seitan, or textured soy, made from bread crumbs or a breading mixture with seasonings. Breading can also refer to the process of applying a bread-like coating to a food. Breading is well suited for frying as it lends itself to creating a crisp coating around the food. Breading mixtures can be made of breadcrumb, flour, cornmeal, and seasoning that the item to be breaded is dredged in before cooking. If the item to be breaded is too dry for the coating to stick, the item may first be moistened with buttermilk, raw egg, or other liquid.

Breading contrasts with batter, which is a grain-based liquid coating for food that produces a smoother and finer texture, but which can be softer overall.