Have you tried Japanese style pork cutlet, the Tonkatsu?
The crisp coating outside with tender and juicy meat inside, ummmmm…. For some reason I was craving this Tonkatsu the other night. Don’t you just hate that the thought of food coming to your mind when you are ready to go to bed?… Of course, when the sun rise on the east next morning I drove to my handy-dandy Korean market to get the supplies. :p
As far as I know, Tonkatsu in Japan was originated from European’s pork cutlet. “Ton” means pork and “Katsu” means cutlet. The sound of cutlet has transformed into ” Katsules“. They just dropped the “..les” sound and became “katsu” instead. While European’s pork cutlet is coated with bread crumbs and pan fried with a little bit of butter, Japanese Katsu is deep fried in vegetable oil which yields irresistible crunch texture while keeping the meat so moist inside.
Anyway, this Tonkatsu was introduced in Korea via Japan a long time ago and became very popular among many Koreans. We call it “Donkas, 돈가스”. The sauce that goes with this Katsu is slightly different. Japanese use very condensed thick syrupy sauce that just drizzle over the cutlet, and Koreans use tomato based gravy over the top. I like them both but I am going to make Japanese version this time.
So, come on piggies of the world! Let’s gather up to make this fabulous Piggy Katsu.
Oink-oink!
Please, add flour, egg, and onion to above.
until you get the coarse crumbs. Set aside.
Flour, beaten eggs, and white bread crumbs.
Coat the pork slice with flour very lightly,
coat with eggs,
Because…
I got ya!
Stack’em up on the plate,
Good news– you can make this ahead of time and keep in the fridge.
You can make this ahead of time as well.
Chop half onion but don’t cry!
uncovered, until the sauce gets thickened.
Drain the syrupy sauce. Press down with spoon to get all the flavors out.
Fry them, babe!
Only about 30 seconds on each side when frying.
so crispy outside and tender and juicy inside.
Drizzle some sauce over and bite into the world of Tonkatsu or Donkas…
” Pig rules!”
Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet)
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb pork cutlet slices 3/8" thick each, gently pounded
- salt and pepper to season
- 8 slices of white bread or 2C Panko crumbs
- 1/2 C flour
- 3 eggs
- Oil for frying
For the sauce:
- 1/3 C soy sauce
- 1/4 C steak sauce I use Heinz 57
- 1/2 apple chopped
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 1/2 can of 8 oz canned crushed pineapple and their juice
- 1 T Worcestershire sauce
- 3 T brown sugar
- 2 T corn syrup
Instructions
- Season the pork slices with salt and pepper, set aside.
- Cut off the crusts of white bread slices. Place them in the food processor and pulse a few times to get the coarse crumbs. Transfer the crumbs into shallow bowl.
- Beat eggs in the shallow bowl and pour some flour into a plate as well.
- Coat the pork slices with flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Stack them together on a plate and cover them with plastic wrap. Chill them for at least 1 hr.
- For frying, Heat oil over medium heat, about 170C. Test with a piece of bread crumbs to see if it bubbles up right away. Drop the pork slices and fry for 1-2 minutes each side. Transfer the meat on to wire rack. Fry again for the second time, only 30 seconds to 1- minutes on each side until they get nicely browned all over. Rest them on the rack.
- Drizzle with Tokatsu sauce over and serve immediately.
- For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Boil and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes until it gets thickened and syrupy. Strain the sauce in the strainer pressing with spoon to get all the juice. Discard the filling and keep the sauce in the fridge until ready to use. Makes about 1/2C
We just got a mini deep fryer and I've been wanting to make Katsu. Thanks for the recipe!
aha! i was wondering what was in katsu sauce–yum! i will have to try this.
what an ingenious way to make sauce! i'd never made this tonkatsu sauce before, is it an original recipe?
another tip to frying tonkatsu cutlets is to marinate the pork in rose water, to give it a deeper flavour, i believe.
@Rabbittrick
Yes!
I just played around with flavors and the combination of steak sauce, apple, and pineapple is what I like.
It might be a little different than the sauce from restaurant but I prefer mine better actually.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Wow, tonkatsu sauce from scratch! Got to try this. How would you say it differs from what you can buy — sweeter, perhaps?
@gearedtocook
It might be slightly sweeter but you can always adjust sweetness to your taste which I always do when I cook.
I found that tonkatsu sauce over the counter taste a little bland for me. This will add more zestiness due to the steak sauce, which has lots of flavor in it already that I don't have to add to myself. Makes my life easier.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Yumyumyum! I make a version of Wagamama's Chicken Katsu on a regular basis – I think I'll try it with your Tonkatsu sauce, it sounds delish!
Ahhh Darling!
Your text is wonderfully didatic, with some simply funny drops and ohhhh makes me drooling to try this recipe – by the way, I have a very special place for pork-pig in my life: my stomach!
yummmmmie!!!
Have a beautiful weekend!
kisses from southern skies!
oink-oink!
I know this post is older, but I’m hoping you can answer my question. I lived in Korea for a year and there was a donkas restaurant near my house in the small town I lived in. They made it with cheese in the center… omg!
Anyway, I’ve been searching ever since for the Korean donkas sauce recipe, the more gravy-like version (which tasted different than the Japanese and was a big part of why I loved it so much). Do you happen to have a recipe for the Korean donkas sauce you could share?
Thank you!
Korean donkas sauce is different than Japanese. I will try to post the recipe next time I make it. Thanks.