Katsudon

A fried cutlet given ninety seconds in seasoned dashi, so one face stays crisp.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish, tonkatsu, which is a breaded pork cutlet.

Ingredients

• 4 tonkatsu, freshly fried and rested
• 300 ml dashi
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 6 eggs
• 4 portions cooked rice
• 4 spring onions, sliced

Method

1. NINETY SECONDS IN THE LIQUID, AND NOT A MOMENT MORE. A crumbed cutlet is a sponge: the panko you built on the tonkatsu page turns to paste in about two minutes. Everything here is arranged so the cutlet meets liquid as late as possible.
2. CUT IT BEFORE IT GOES IN, into 2 cm strips, and lay it in the pan with the strips still touching. Cutting after means sawing through a softened cutlet in the bowl.
3. Fry the tonkatsu as on its own page and rest it 5 minutes on a rack. A cutlet straight out of the oil sheds oil into the dashi.
4. Dashi, soy, mirin and sugar into a small pan, brought to a simmer. ONE PORTION AT A TIME, as for the oyakodon.
5. Onion in, 3 minutes, until soft -- it must be fully cooked before the cutlet arrives, because there is no time afterwards.
6. Beat the eggs badly, four or five strokes, leaving streaks.
7. Cutlet laid in, 30 seconds, then two thirds of the egg poured round and over it. Lid on, 40 seconds.
8. Remaining egg over, lid on, heat OFF, 20 seconds.
9. SLIDE IT OUT WITHOUT TURNING IT, so the face that was uppermost -- and is still crisp -- stays uppermost on the rice. Turned, the crisp side lands in the liquid that came with it.
10. Spring onion over. Eat at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes