Tonkatsu is simply pork cutlets, considered part of a whole genre of food called Yoshoku, Japanese interpretations of Western food. Well here’s my take on it. You’ll notice a little bit of Malaysian curry powder, which adds just a touch of something special and a teeny kick. No one will be able to tell what the secret ingredient is though.

Tonkatsu
~2-4 servings

Sauce

  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon (Malaysian) curry powder

Pork Cutlets

  • 10.5 ounces pork tenderloin, cut into 4 (1/2″) thick cutlets
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Malaysian curry powder
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cup panko
  • 2/3 cup oil for pan frying
  • rice to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Put all the sauce ingredients in a small pot and heat on medium high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and stir. Continue stirring as it reduces and thickens to a gravy-like consistency, roughly 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

sauce

2. Season pork cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper. Set up 3 shallow bowls: one with flour and curry powder mixed together, one with the egg, one with panko.

flour, egg, panko

3. Heat oil in a 12″ skillet on medium high heat. Coat pork cutlets with flour mixture, dusting off excess. Dip in egg, then panko. Bread all the cutlets, then fry all 4 together, for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

frying 1 frying 2

4. Remove onto paper towels, slice, serve with sauce (over rice if desired).

tonkatsu sliced

posted by jessica at 09:00 PM Filed under Japanese, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.