Japanese Tonkatsu

This is such a simple dish but so delicious, A definite comfort food for me. there aren’t too many ingredients involved or too many steps to follow, it is perfect for an easy but tasty weekday meal.

Tonkatsu

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Serving: 2

Recipe from https://www.justonecookbook.com/tonkatsu/

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2"-thick lean boneless pork loin chops (at least ½ inch thickness)

  • salt (kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt)

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • all-purpose flour

  • 1 large Egg

  • 1/2 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)

  • Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (or fresh panko)

  • neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for deep frying)

  • Tonkatsu Sauce (See below for recipe)

  • cooked white rice

  • shredded cabbage or side salad with sesame miso sauce (see below for recipe)

*Gluten free option is to omit the flour and panko and use cornstarch as a SUBSTITUTE

Method:

  1. Remove the extra fat and make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat. Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or if you don’t have one then just use the back of knife to pound. When using knife, criss cross by first pounding top to bottom then left to right.

  2. Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands.

  3. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

  4. In a large bowl or plate, add 1/2 Tbsp of oil for each egg you use and whisk them up.

  5. Dredge in flour and remove excess flour.

  6. Dip in egg mixture.

  7. Dredge in panko. After removing excess panko, press gently. While deep frying panko will “pop up” so at this moment they don’t have to be fluffy.

  8. Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat and wait till oil gets 350F (180C). if you don’t have a thermometer, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 350F (180C). When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower Tonkatsu into the oil. Keep watching the oil’s temperature and make sure it doesn’t go over 350F (180C) or else it’ll look burnt.

  9. Deep fry for 1 minute on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. If your pork chop is thinner than 3/4 inch, then reduce to 45 seconds for each side.

  10. Now take the Tonkatsu out and get rid of the oil by holding Tonkatsu vertically for a few seconds. Place on top of wire rack (if wire rack is not available, substitute with paper towel) and let it sit for 4 minutes. The hot oil on exterior is slowly cooking the meat as it sits. Please do not cut to check whether the inside is cooked or not. We need to keep it closed to retain the heat. While waiting, you can scoop up fried crumbs in the oil with mesh strainer.

  11. After resting for 4 minutes, bring the oil back to 350F (180C) of oil again and deep fry Tonkatsu for 1 minute (about 30 seconds each side).

  12. Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the Tonkatsu vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of rack/paper towel for 2 minutes. If you have to use paper towel, try to keep Tonkatsu in a vertical position so it does not get soggy on one side.

  13. Cut Tonkatsu into 3 large pieces by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breading will not come off. Then cut again in between. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately with white rice and SHREDDED cabbage or a side salad.

TONKATSU SAUCE

RECIPE FROM https://www.justonecookbook.com/tonkatsu-sauce-recipe/

Servings:  3 (Tbsp)

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp ketchup

  • 2 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (or Usutah So-su)

  • 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce

  • 1 1/8 tsp sugar

Method:

  1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl, adjust seasoning if needed.

SESAME MISO SAUCE

Recipe from https://www.justonecookbook.com/hiyashi-chuka-with-sesame-miso-sauce/

  • 1 Tbsp sesame seeds (and more for garnish)

  • 1 Tbsp miso

  • 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

  • 3/4 Tbsp rice vinegar (you can use lemon instead)

  • 1 Tbsp sugar

  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil

  • 25-40Ml chicken broth/stock (depends on how liquidy you want your dressing to be)

sometimes i do crave some simple japanese food and a tonkatsu don is something that is so simple but many japanese restaurants abroad for some reason don’t have it on the menu. SO i guess that means that i need to try to make it at home. it was close to the real deal but a few adjustments need to made.

As i did the gluten free option, mine came out looking different than what would be when using panko or breadcrumbs. not as fluffy or golden brown, but just as tasty and crispy. traditionally you serve tonkatsu with shredded cabbage on the side or on the bottom of the tonkatsu on top of rice. as i didn’t have cabbage but some lettuce i decided to make a simple side salad with a sesame miso dressing. this was very delicious, i had never thought of using chicken broth in a dressing but it adds another dimension of flavor instead of adding just water. a simple salad dressing that has a lot of flavor that is both sweet and savory. the tonkatsu sauce was good and super easy to make but i felt that there was a little something missing, i had then checked later and found that some other recipes added either ginger or garlic to the sauce so i might try that next time. i love tonkatsu sauce. i guess some cultures have their own form of fried meat, for example WIENER SCHNITZEL but i think the TONKATSU sauce is what makes this fried meat dish stand out. i love just pouring the sauce over rice and eating it, but maybe that’s just me.

cooking, japaneseJackie Wongtonkatsu, porkComment