Tonkatsu

A thick cutlet crumbed in panko and fried once at a steady heat, rested and cut across.

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

Ingredients

4 pork loin chops, 2 cm thick, boneless
120 g panko
60 g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
0.5 teaspoon white pepper
400 g white cabbage, very finely shredded
oil, for deep frying
tonkatsu sauce, to serve

Method

PANKO, NOT ORDINARY BREADCRUMBS, and it is not interchangeable. Panko is made from crustless bread torn into large flat flakes, so it absorbs less oil and stands up off the surface in spikes. Fine dry crumbs give a thin sandy coat and a greasier cutlet.
NICK THE FAT AND SINEW at 2 cm intervals along the edge with the point of a knife. Left whole, it contracts in the oil and curls the cutlet so the middle never touches the fat.
Pound the thick end lightly to an even thickness. A cutlet of two depths cooks to two doneness.
Season, then flour, then egg, then panko -- and PRESS THE PANKO ON FIRMLY with the flat of the hand, then shake the loose flakes off. Loose crumbs burn in the oil and taste of it.
Rest the crumbed cutlets 10 minutes so the coating sets onto the meat.
170C, and keep it there. This is a thick cutlet needing six to seven minutes and a hot oil would colour the panko in three.
Two at a time at most. Four drop the temperature far enough that the coating soaks instead of frying.
6 to 7 minutes, turning once, until deep even gold and the bubbling has slowed noticeably.
REST ON A RACK, STANDING ON ITS EDGE, 5 minutes. Laid flat on paper the underside steams and the panko you built goes soft.
Cut across into 2 cm strips and serve with the raw shredded cabbage and the sauce. The cabbage is not a garnish -- it is the only thing cutting the fat.

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