I love using panko for breading as it made from the heart of the bread, not the crust. This type of breadcrumb has a coarse texture that resembles flakes in consistency, which adds more of a crunch to breaded foods such as fish, pork, casserole toppings, and a variety of fried foods. Due to the flaked crumb, the texture is often considered to be more tender and lighter, yet crunchier for longer than a typical breadcrumb coating. Even our local Safeway carries Panko an as you said in Asian markets. In Japanese, panko (パン粉) refers to all types of breadcrumb, not just the flaky variety used for frying. I find the Japanese imported Panko to hav a btter texture and flavour than domestic "panko". There is also a sweeter version called Honey Panko Japanese bread crumbs which are used to coat foods before frying. Mostly used for dishes such as Tonkatsu, Deep fried shrimp, meat, and vegetables. The crumb offers a light and airy appearance and produces crunchy crust. Ingredients: wheat flour, water, shortening (palm oil, rapeseed oil), yeast, honey, glucose, salt. yeast food (wheat flour, corn starch, salt, ammonium chloride, calcium sulfate, L-ascorbic acid, amylase from aspergillus oryzae, magnesium sulfate).

The Barefoot Contessa has a "fabulous" recipe for a seafood gratin using Panko Bread Crumbs. It is defiantly not in the "easy" category, but well worth serving for a special dinner party! The crunchy texture of the Panko breadcrumbs on the seafood gratin is fantastic!