Q. I want to try a couple of recipes that call for Japanese bread crumbs, but have had a hard time finding this product. Do they have another name? Where can I buy them? Can I substitute something else for them?

A. This trendy Japanese item is also known as panko bread crumbs. They have become very in over the past 10 years and, as with all things that become popular, they have become overused.

I knew that line had been crossed when I saw "Panko-Crusted Southern Fried Chicken" on a menu.

I'm sorry, but Japanese bread-crumb-crusted Southern fried chicken is not fusion cooking -- it's confusion cooking.

All that aside, these crumbs do make a nice, crunchy crust for some foods.

What makes them different is that they are very coarse; in fact they look like cracker crumbs to me.

You can substitute regular bread crumbs for them in just about any recipe, but obviously there will be a different consistency.

In some cases you may like the finer crumbs even better.

If you want the real thing, you shouldn't have a very hard time finding them in specialty food stores or in Asian markets. Remember to ask for panko bread crumbs, not just Japanese bread crumbs.

Jim Coleman is executive chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, a cookbook author, and host of television and radio cooking shows. Candace Hagan is a food writer and cookbook author.